Do Broody Chickens Lay?

[ChassiNoir]

Hopefully she’s not a severe broody hen who’ll brood anything; it should be easier to break her of it if she is going broody. No eggs until her body decides to start producing again.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The only thing is that she is laying daily and I didn’t think broody chickens laid eggs. Am I wrong?

There are many different signs that a hen is either broody or thinking about going broody. I've had hens exhibit those signs but never totally kick over to full broody ode. One acted that way for two weeks before she finally committed to being a full time broody. My test if a hen is truly broody and deserves eggs is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of in her normal sleeping location.

That test has not failed me yet but it easily could. I try to never say never or always, chickens just live to make a liar out of you. There are always exceptions.

In the normal course of events a hen stops laying when she goes broody. It takes nutrients to create eggs. Her body can't afford to incubate eggs for three weeks instead of spending a lot of time out looking for food if she is also creating eggs.

Not all chickens are normal. We often feed them really rich diets. They are domesticated, no longer feral, so some of their instincts could be blunted. I've never noticed a hen that has committed to being broody lay an egg. Hens that have not fully committed have laid eggs. Some people on this forum say they have had hens do that.

I'd classify that as highly unlikely but possible. I would not want a hen like that (a fully committed broody laying eggs) in my flock, it's just not natural. But one not fully committed I'd be OK with.

 

[John_Fredman]

How do you know she's laying?

I have 4 chickens. One lays brown eggs. The other three lay white eggs. She is one of those three and every day I get three white eggs so I am confident she is laying. Only other option would be that the other two are laying more than one egg daily which would seem unlikely, especially as I am getting a few double yolkers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I start breaking my hens as soon as they show any sign of broodiness. Often it's early enough that they still have an egg or two n the pipeline, so they end up laying in the broody breaker. Never had it become an issue, I just pick it up and eat it as I would with any other egg.

 

[Chickens are da bestpets]

Most likely she isn't yet ready to be broody, chickens will stop laying, and sit on usually 12 eggs and start their 21 day process.