Broody this time of year???

[WoodwardRooster]

One of my Faverolles has gone broody for the past few days. She is about 6 months old and has been laying. This is the first time I have had Faverolles, but I raised hundreds of chickens years ago when I was a kid, and never had a broody this young. Is this typical with the breed or is she just odd and confused? I am attempting to break her (not a lot of luck), and half tempted to put the fertile eggs from my dutch pair under her... I'm in Michigan so do you guys think it would be foolish for her to try to hatch eggs at this time of year? Would they hatch or is it too cold? Are Faverolles really persistent broodies? I have never had this happen before.

 

[justbugged]

I haven't had my year old Faverolle go broody yet. If it was me and you have fertile eggs, I would say go ahead and let her hatch them. The hen should be more than able to keep the eggs at hatching temperature. You can always take the day old chicks and put them into an indoor brooder if the weather is too harsh.

I do have SilkieX that is broody as all get out, and she is rather mean to me. It seems every time I break a brood, with in a day or two someone else goes broody. Sometimes I think about getting rid of the Silkies, because of the frequency of their broody cycles.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Mine only go broody when the weather is nasty. SIlly chickens. My first two silkies went broody in January. They did perfectly fine and all the babies did great. Granted, I am in TN and the weather is a bit milder than your weather. Still, if you can keep mama and chicks confined for a week or so you should be fine. My babies would run around like crazy and then dive up under mama for a bit to get warm. I made sure they stayed dry and could get out of the wind. Everyone was peachy keen fine.

 

[bakerjw]

I am in NE Tennessee and had a TSC sex link go broody on me a few weeks back. My sex link girls don't have a roo so she didn't have any fertilized eggs to brood but I found a clutch from my free ranging chickens and put them under her. Last weekend I was bestowed with 7 lil fuzzy butts. We also had a free ranging chicken go missing. Sure enough we found her on a clutch of 13 eggs that are fertilized. It has been cold and rainy but she's been dedicated to sitting on them. She's being a good hen and will be rewarded for her efforts. i.e. no soup pot for her ever.

 

[WoodwardRooster]

Thanks for all your input. I think I am going to give her the eggs on Sunday and see what happens. She doesn't hardly get off the nest isn't laying, so I figure this way she can be productive. I have 9 dutch eggs so far, and the dutch hen has laid an egg a day for the past week so hopefully I'll be setting a dozen. Let the waiting game begin

 

[xjonesy]

Sorry, I'm only a year into raising chickens -- what does "going broody" mean?

 

[mkatz131]

We just had 3 Silkie eggs hatch from a first time broody hen. When we realized (NE PA) that she was sitting on a clutch out in the chicken barn, we brought Mama, and the 3 eggs into the house and set them up with some litter in an old dog corral. It is below freezing here now and I'm thinking we will have to keep the family in the kitchen until Spring. Can I return Mama to the outdoors after 6 weeks in the warm kitchen and put chicks under a brooder lamp? Thanks.

 

[bakerjw]

"Going broody" means that you have a hen who has it in her head that she intends to hatch something. My first one started on some fake eggs that I used to keep the girls laying in one place. A lot of people try breaking broody hens because they don't lay when they're sitting on a nest. I opted to throw some fertilized eggs under my first broody and it worked out well. I didn't have to buy an incubator, it gave her something to do, and I ended up with some more chicks with a minimal amount of effort. I had another hen go broody on her own out in the yard with fertilized eggs. They are in the process of hatching as well.

 

[xjonesy]

Thanks barkerjw -- interesting info. So to identify a chicken that's "gone broody" (sounds like going awol - ha ha), it's simply a hen that sits in a nesting box most of the day and doesn't get out to mingle with the rest of the hens and scratch, walk around, etc.?

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
A hen or pullet that wants to hatch eggs, not just lay 'em and walk away from 'em. She wants to "brood" over a "brood" of babies. See how it fits???

The symptoms are: won't leave the nest except for maybe two short, quick breaks to relieve herself and get some water, maybe some food. Puffing up and making this gawd-awful growling sound when you try to reach for her or under her to gather eggs. A sort of glazed expression, like a trance, as she sits there forever. She may even steal eggs from other nests, or set on a golf ball, or a peach pit, or anything slightly round like an egg.

It's hormonal - either they go broody or they don't. Not all hens do, and some do it over and over again.