Half Broody then No Eggs

[Disheygirl]

I have an Australorp who is seven months who went half broody about a week ago. Half because she was trying to sit on eggs constantly and screeching at me / puffing up when I’d get close to her in the nest box, but then when I put her in a wire cage for the night, she was over it the next morning and went back to her usual social behavior.

She hasn’t gone back to laying, though. Acts normal otherwise - eats, drinks, runs around, no more sitting in the nest box. They (she is one of three who are the same age) have free choice egg shell and oyster, lots of room, and eat organic grower feed (they’re with five pullets who haven’t started laying yet). I read other posts where people with similar situations had responses that as long as the pullet was acting normal, it’s fine.

At what point to do go egg-hunting ‘up there’? Make sure something isn’t stuck? Or can they just stop laying because of the broody-ish behavior? She was a one egg a day layer before this. When should I be concerned?

 

[azygous]

Are you familiar with the different hormones that pregnant women have when they are pregnant? It's similar with hens. When a hen goes broody, she has special hormones activated that suspends ovulation. The hormones cause a change in temperament and behavior.

These hormones also elevate the hen's body temperature. Breaking the broody causes these hormones to loose their grip on her body, her temperature returns to normal, and as the broody hormones clear from her body, ovulation resumes.This process takes around two weeks, and the hormones are gone. You should start seeing eggs again in about that long.

 

[Disheygirl]

Are you familiar with the different hormones that pregnant women have when they are pregnant? It's similar with hens. When a hen goes broody, she has special hormones activated that suspends ovulation. The hormones cause a change in temperament and behavior.

These hormones also elevate the hen's body temperature. Breaking the broody causes these hormones to loose their grip on her body, her temperature returns to normal, and as the broody hormones clear from her body, ovulation resumes.This process takes around two weeks, and the hormones are gone. You should start seeing eggs again in about that long.

I had no idea! Appreciate the info! So really, if you have a super broody chicken, could it happen monthly? Like, she’s a half-layer? When I was picking breeds, I seemed to have picked the broody kind…at least that’s what some websites say. Brahma, Australorp, Barred Rock, Golden Laced Wyandotte, Ameracauna…the only one in the crew who isn’t is the E….and the Austra White maybe.

This is how people end up with 2x the chickens…need more layers to cover for the slackers (broody, too hot, too cold, just not great at it, etc).

 

[azygous]

Most people who have limited space will break their broodies. It takes about three days, and they are then on the way back to normal. Unbroken broodies, sitting on eggs or nothing at all will sit there for three weeks, the time it takes to hatch a chick form an egg, and then their hormones will shift back to normal, unless they hatch chicks, and then they remain partially broody to care for the chicks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I had no idea! Appreciate the info! So really, if you have a super broody chicken, could it happen monthly?

Probably not monthly, but possibly very close to it. I have a young hen that's been a serial broody all summer, so her brooding/laying schedule looked like this:
- goes broody and I break her (4-6 days)
- mini molts, puts on weight again, and resumes laying (2-3 weeks)
- resumes laying until she starts feeling the itch again (1-2 weeks)
- goes broody, repeat cycle

This is how people end up with 2x the chickens…need more layers to cover for the slackers (broody, too hot, too cold, just not great at it, etc).

And yes, this is how I have 10 hens and only a maximum possible 5 eggs a day right now.

 

[Disheygirl]

It will be two weeks tomorrow and no eggs. No squatting either. She’s an Australorp….should I just keep waiting, as long as she’s acting normal?

 

[Disheygirl]

Probably not monthly, but possibly very close to it. I have a young hen that's been a serial broody all summer, so her brooding/laying schedule looked like this:
- goes broody and I break her (4-6 days)
- mini molts, puts on weight again, and resumes laying (2-3 weeks)
- resumes laying until she starts feeling the itch again (1-2 weeks)
- goes broody, repeat cycle


And yes, this is how I have 10 hens and only a maximum possible 5 eggs a day right now.

If you let them hatch a chick, does it quell their need to go broody for a while? Or monthly broods are just the way of the hen?

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you let them hatch a chick, does it quell their need to go broody for a while? Or monthly broods are just the way of the hen?

No clue, I've never had a hen broody at the time I was getting chicks (I plan ahead of chicks, not the other way around) so I've never had one raise the chicks for me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It will be two weeks tomorrow and no eggs. No squatting either. She’s an Australorp….should I just keep waiting, as long as she’s acting normal?

Yup. Not much you can do anyhow, so it's up to her hormones to settle down to normal, and then she should resume laying since she's still young.