Do hens go broody after they've stopped laying?

[AnonPaperclip]

Another question about our odd little faverolle.
All of our hens are past laying age (all the same age too) but when I went to go check on them, I saw the faverolle sitting in one of the nesting boxes (which they haven't touched in a while)

Could she be starting to go broody again? Last time she went broody, she stayed like that all summer (the whole 3 months)

 

[azygous]

There are quite a number of other symptoms of broodiness than just sitting on a nest -
- loss of feathers along the keel bone
-change in temperament
-the broody vocal
-loss of appetite

I had an aging GLW hen several years ago that had all but quit laying due to age. Yet she was stimulated to go partially broody by being in proximity to chicks I had brooded in the run. When they turned six weeks, she began the broody clucking sounds. Then she stationed herself by the chicks as their caretaker for the next two and a half months, never leaving their side.

An older hen that is coming to the end of her laying days may occasionally feel the urge to lay an egg. This GLW and an older SLW both continued to spend occasional time in the nest, sometimes actually producing an egg, sometimes a shell less egg, and most often, nothing. My SLW who is ten now, did this up until summer before last.

So, spending time in a nest may or may not signal a hen is broody. She may simply be feeling an urge to try to lay an egg. But if she is displaying all of those other signs of being broody, then perhaps she is broody, despite her age.

Only you who know her can decide.

 

[aart]

Could she be starting to go broody again? Last time she went broody, she stayed like that all summer (the whole 3 months)

These are my go to signs for a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Not sure why you let her sit for 3 months, not healthy, IMO.

 

[AnonPaperclip]

These are my go to signs for a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Not sure why you let her sit for 3 months, not healthy, IMO.

Thing is, we didn't let her sit for 3 months. She was just incredibly stubborn. We tried everything to break her out of it and she refused to let up.

Right now, I'm not sure if she's broody or just wants to sit in the nesting box. I let them out early this morning and while the other four were up and walking around, she was shuffling around in her box. She didn't get up until I opened the run door and let them out into the backyard. Even then, she was the last one out.

 

[AnonPaperclip]

A previous post of mine about the same hen being broody:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/stopping-a-broody-hen.1270503/

 

[AnonPaperclip]

She's still sitting in the best for the majority of the day. She's not flattened out sitting down, but she does cluck a little when going to it and when someone goes near her. She doesn't puff up at all like she would when she was actually broody, instead she just sits there.

 

[sourland]

I have had elderly non laying hens that would go broody. She may be pre broody. Time to buy some pullet chicks ?

 

[AnonPaperclip]

I have had elderly non laying hens that would go broody. She may be pre broody. Time to buy some pullet chicks ?

I've been thinking about that as well. Since we recently lost our other faverolle, getting a new chick could bring their numbers back up to 6. She got really distant from the flock since the other faverolle passed and I think it would be good to give her a new friend.

 

[AnonPaperclip]

She still insists on sitting on the nest, especially during the night. My guess would be that one of the welsummers bullied her off the roosting bar and she found that the nesting box was the second most comfortable place to sleep.

I doubt she's broody, though. I placed a fake egg in the nest while she was away from it and she never sat on it, just pushed it aside and sat down. I still need to better check to see if she's missing feathers on her belly, though.

Other than wanting to be on the box all day, she's not showing any other signs of broodiness. Most of the time when they're free ranging, she stays in one spot away from the others. Earlier today, I found her by out hose box, not moving at all. She's still eating and drinking fine from my last post.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-i-help-my-depressed-hen.1337030/page-5#post-21870950

 

[AnonPaperclip]

But, every time I take her off of the nest (while they're locked in their run) she always goes back after a few minutes. She won't go out into the run with the others unless the door is open.