Encouriging Broodieness

[farmgirl02]

Hi there,
What can I do to encourage my hen's broodiness? I am not allowed to have a rooster where I live, so a neighbor down the road said if one of my hens went broody, she would give me some fertilized eggs to sneak under the hen so I could have chicks. Can I make my hen go broody without a rooster? I have heard of some chickens doing this.
Thanks!

 

[GreenSahara]

I can't say for sure, but I believe I have had broody hens without a rooster before. Good luck!

 

[Spinpuff]

If you have the right sort of hen, like a cochin bantam, you won't be able to stop her from going broodie occassionally without a rooster. I have one, and plan to break her broodies until the warmer months. Then when she goes broodie, I will try some fertile eggs from a previously owned rooster and his herem.

 

[donrae]

A rooster being present has nothing to do with the hen going broody. Some hens do, some don't. Breeds like silkies, game hens, cochins are more known for going broody, but there have been broody leghorns and sex links. Spring is the most likely time for a hen to go broody.

If I'm trying to tempt a hen to brood, I leave a fake clutch of eggs in the nest. If I have lots of eggs, I use real ones, marked with a sharpie so I don't later collect them and eat them after they've been setting in the nest possibly weeks. Other folks have used golf balls, plastic easter eggs, wooden eggs, pretty much anything round she can set on. Sometimes the feel of that clutch under her helps the broody hormones flow.


I'm wondering, though, if you can't have roosters, what are you going to do with the 50% roosters you hatch out?

 

[farmgirl02]

A rooster being present has nothing to do with the hen going broody. Some hens do, some don't. Breeds like silkies, game hens, cochins are more known for going broody, but there have been broody leghorns and sex links. Spring is the most likely time for a hen to go broody.

If I'm trying to tempt a hen to brood, I leave a fake clutch of eggs in the nest. If I have lots of eggs, I use real ones, marked with a sharpie so I don't later collect them and eat them after they've been setting in the nest possibly weeks. Other folks have used golf balls, plastic easter eggs, wooden eggs, pretty much anything round she can set on. Sometimes the feel of that clutch under her helps the broody hormones flow.


I'm wondering, though, if you can't have roosters, what are you going to do with the 50% roosters you hatch out?

Hi Dornae,
I am planning to give them away--- I know a whole slew of people that have chickens.

 

[farmgirl02]

Thank you, everyone!
Do you think that a Red Star, Black Aullastrop, or a Barred Rock, could go broody with the fake clutch of eggs? I was hoping they would last year...