Do Broody Hens Sit on Empty Boxes???

[hiddenflock]

Hi,

Kludd, one of our Buff Orpingtons, seems to have gone totally broody- she laid yesterday and sat on hers and all the other birds' eggs all day long, and due to her persistence, the others had to climb on top of her to lay their eggs. This morning, she's still on that box; we brought her out twice and she drank and ate a bit, and chased the rooster around. This morning, she's attentively mothering an empty box....do broody hens do that????

Thanks

 

[Creeper]

I have a broody Bantam that will sit on all the eggs if I don't remove them. But once the eggs are out, she leaves the nest box. She is constantly checking it to see if an egg is inside. She will sit right by the nest if another hen is in it and when they leave "plop" she's sitting.

 

[charliethezero]

My hen has gone broody and has been sitting on nothing for the past four days. I can pick her up and put her on the floor and she will sit there too. She is a Silkie/Cochin, the best mother even to her invisible eggs.

 

[nbenevento]

Broody hens don't lay eggs. If she's broody and you don't have a rooster or plan on hatching anything, do a quick search for how to break a broody. There will be several methods to try. Pick the one you like!

 

[charliethezero]

I don't mind my hens going broody I just check and collect the eggs the other hens donate a few times a day. But I agree about searching this forum if you want to break it.

 

[hiddenflock]

Hahahaha!!!!! That's exactly what Mama Kludd is doing, when you take her of the nest, she'll sit there for a minute... thanks for the advice, I will check those out if we have to, we're going out there for routine removals from the nest, so she can get a break and eat something!! She'll stay out there for a little bit, so we think it's getting better...thanks for the answer, Charliethezero! To be honest, we were concerned it was egg binding, but she "went potty", so that can't be it...so, yay!

 

[hiddenflock]

But I do have another question- broodies and nutrition. Broody hens, I take it, will not eat anything except for maybe a light five-minute foraging. How do we keep the broody well fed if she's always on that box?

 

[Daisy8s]

Broody hens don't lay eggs. If she's broody and you don't have a rooster or plan on hatching anything, do a quick search for how to break a broody. There will be several methods to try. Pick the one you like!

This isn't true of all hens. I have two hens who demonstrate broodiness by sitting in the nesting box all day long, refusing to leave so other birds have to climb in with them, turning from docile to ferocious when we collect eggs from underneath them, etc.

Yet, these birds also continue to lay eggs if the eggs are removed. They are extremely egg aware--scouting for them, checking empty boxes, and easily moved from one location to another so long as their eggs are moved to that new place first. In short, they are obsessed with eggs and will lay their own if all are removed.

Unfortunately, I don't know their breed as they were developed by a veteran flock raiser over many decades. The best I can come up with is that they look sort of like a bantam black Australorp.

 

[Daisy8s]

But I do have another question- broodies and nutrition. Broody hens, I take it, will not eat anything except for maybe a light five-minute foraging. How do we keep the broody well fed if she's always on that box?

She will lose some weight during the broody process and when rearing new chicks. I notice my birds putting on a lot of weight in the weeks before they go broody, though, in preparation for the process. In fact, when I tried to induce a hen to go broody in March she refused and I think it may have been, among other reasons, because she hadn't had time to fatten up yet.

If there's room you can place some food and water in the brooder box with her. One of my hens will utilize that and still stay on the nest...another one won't eat while sitting. With or without they do come through it just fine, though.

 

[hiddenflock]

Thanks Daisy8s....I'll see if we can try that....how much do broodies normally eat, just to know if she's normal?