Explain what being broody is to me.

[ValerieJ]

I live in what some would consider suburbia and most of the surrounding municipalities prohibit owning roosters or even chickens altogether. The ones that don't prohibit chickens have some pretty strict ordinances on coop size, location, construction, noise, etc. Fortunately my municipality allows chickens and rooster and gives no specific limit as to quantity or any regulations about the coop. No one around here has chickens, which is probably why there isn't any laws regarding them... There has never been a need.



Well fortunately there are no small children around, my youngest sibling is 17. I had a total of 4 roosters (bought straight runs, bad rookie move) to start with, and the one I currently have was the smallest and most docile of the 4. Hopefully he works out. Worst case scenario, I will have to re-home him and replace him with another pullet.

I'm raising 3 straight run lavender orpingtons because I want a cockerel. I also hatched one out in an incubator from one of my own hens who decided she wasn't broody after all. It looks like I might have 3 cockerels out of the 4. That's just the risk, if you want a cockerel. It all works out in the end.

 

[Shadrach]

I don't think his hormones have kicked in. Your sweet little rooster will certainly be a little crazy at least when that happens, but some just get really mean both with the pullets and with people. @Shadrach has an excellent article on getting to know your rooster. Perhaps he'll pop in and post a link to it for you.

I will and here's a link.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[debiJae]

I would like to know their sources. This is new to me and I have never heard of it. Just curious...

 

[debiJae]

I would like to know their sources. This is new to me and I have never heard of it. Just curious...

No fertilized eggs for me, no Roos allowed here ... Just curious

How do you know when eggs are fertilized? Yes, this is my first (surviving) flock. We have 7 hens and 7 Roosters . Until we get rid of some. Didn't know what we were getting. We only get 4 eggs per day and I've been eating them . And allergic to Penicillin. I don't know what they are, was told Easter Eggers? Most eggs are shades of brown and once in a while a pale green one. Pictures are mostly the Roos ,4 hens stay on the roosts.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I am understanding better now. I have 1 rooster, 4 pullets. The rooster is a Welsummer. One pullet is a Welsummer, the other three are White Rocks.

Is it really true that fertilized eggs contain penicillin? I am the only one in the house who isn't allergic to penicillin.

No it isn't true. It isn't an old wives' tale, more like a new wives' tale.
If anyone has a relevant scientific study, please provide it here.
Hens apply a bloom AKA cuticle to the outside of the shell just as it is being laid which helps protect the contents from bacteria.
No magic production of penicillin happens when a sperm attaches itself to the blastoderm.

 

[Tiffs Chicks]

We had a broody Rhode Island Red a couple summers ago. Took weeks to break her. We tossed her from the nest everytime we saw her there. We also have her dummy eggs to sit on which she devoted a few months to but eventually gave up on. She is over it now but never really laid too many eggs. We think she stopped laying when she went broody.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We had a broody Rhode Island Red a couple summers ago. Took weeks to break her. We tossed her from the nest everytime we saw her there. We also have her dummy eggs to sit on which she devoted a few months to but eventually gave up on. She is over it now but never really laid too many eggs. We think she stopped laying when she went broody.

It only takes a couple days if you use the tried and true method that has been used for centuries. An elevated wire bottom cage with no bedding. It is just a hassle to throw them out of the nest a couple times a day and, as you've found, doesn't work.
Letting a relentless broody sit without hatching eggs can be a health hazard to the bird, not to mention that it prolongs how long before laying resumes.
I had a friend with a broody turkey hen who didn't take action to break the broodiness. Eventually the bird couldn't move on its own. 2 months of physical therapy and $2500 in vet bills and the hen died anyway.

 

[Jac Jac]

This is good to know for me ... I'm allergic to penicillin Wonder if it's the same as the injection? Not brave enough to "test" it

Me too. I've had my share of anaphylactic episodes from PCN, sulphur drugs, morphine, codeine, insect stings, etc. No experimental testing here, thank you very much. I do all I can to keep my Cluckers and Quackers in optimal health in the first place. I wear disposable gloves, masks, etc. wash boots before exiting and entering next coop - it's expensive, but worth it for my flock and myself.

 

[Jac Jac]

It only takes a couple days if you use the tried and true method that has been used for centuries. An elevated wire bottom cage with no bedding. It is just a hassle to throw them out of the nest a couple times a day and, as you've found, doesn't work.
Letting a relentless broody sit without hatching eggs can be a health hazard to the bird, not to mention that it prolongs how long before laying resumes.
I had a friend with a broody turkey hen who didn't take action to break the broodiness. Eventually the bird couldn't move on its own. 2 months of physical therapy and $2500 in vet bills and the hen died anyway.

WOW.

 

[Jac Jac]

No. They do not.

I totally agree.