Help! Will collecting eggs daily cause my chickens not to go broody later?

[pickinchicken]

I collect eggs daily but want broody hens for the spring. I have been collecting the eggs from my 2 Cochins and 3 red sex links. ( there are also one barred rock rooster and 4 Guineas in the coop.) this is my first year with chickens and I get 3 eggs a day. I was wondering if by collecting the eggs daily I am going to cause a lack of broodiness? I would like to try for hatching some chicks naturally this spring but I wasn't sure if a hen will become broody. Do I just leave the eggs when I'm ready for this to happen and maybe it will spark interest in one to become broody? Should I start leaving eggs now once in awhile or is it ok to take all eggs daily? I'd like to try for hatching late spring. Thanks so much for any help!

 

[AmericanMom]

I collect eggs daily but want broody hens for the spring. I have been collecting the eggs from my 2 Cochins and 3 red sex links. ( there are also one barred rock rooster and 4 Guineas in the coop.) this is my first year with chickens and I get 3 eggs a day. I was wondering if by collecting the eggs daily I am going to cause a lack of broodiness? I would like to try for hatching some chicks naturally this spring but I wasn't sure if a hen will become broody. Do I just leave the eggs when I'm ready for this to happen and maybe it will spark interest in one to become broody? Should I start leaving eggs now once in awhile or is it ok to take all eggs daily? I'd like to try for hatching late spring. Thanks so much for any help!

Going broody is hormonal and has nothing to do with whether you gather eggs or leave them, You could as I do leave a few fake eggs or golf balls in the nest, but I do that more to remind them where I want them to lay.
My Hen last summer went broody and I was collecting eggs a few times a day

 

[showinbirds]

Hi pickinchicken, red sex links seldom go broody. I never owned a cochin. I raise Ameraucanas and they don't go broody very often either. I do like to hatch eggs under a hen.So I keep 5 or 6 game hens they will set 3 times a year ( I have 3 setting right ).

 

[pickinchicken]

I think my Cochin will be the one that would go broody. I ready they are very motherly and she does stay in her nest a little more than the others. I tried a perch and all mine like up sleep in the nest boxes instead.

 

[showinbirds]

I think Cochins are good momas. I wouldn't worry I'd bet come this spring, your girls will hatch some very nice chicks for you.

 

[Mahlzeit]

I collect my eggs daily also and the chickens that go broody for me do so regardless of me collecting the eggs away from them. Even me collecting eggs out from underneath them when I don't want them to hatch any doesn't deter them from trying to hatch chicks.

 

[pickinchicken]

I collect my eggs daily also and the chickens that go broody for me do so regardless of me collecting the eggs away from them. Even me collecting eggs out from underneath them when I don't want them to hatch any doesn't deter them from trying to hatch chicks. 

Good to know. Do you just let them stay broody without the eggs? Do they do fine? I hope that one of mine goes broody this spring! Is she does earlier do I need to do anything about it? I don't really want baby chicks when it is so cold out

 

[showinbirds]

If a hen goes broody about the only thing you can do to stop them, is to move them to another pen for a few days.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here’s a thread on how to break a broody. I’ve always had success with the wire bottomed cage.

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186

You can’t control when a hen goes broody or even if one will. I personally don’t like to leave eggs overnight in the coop. That might attract snakes (not this time of year here, but in warmer weather) or other egg predators. I have a use for them and there is more of a chance they can be broken if they are left out there. If they are sleeping in the nests there pooping in the nests. You don’t need poopy eggs either for eating or hatching.

What I suggest is that you continue to collect the eggs daily. When you are ready for a broody, get a dozen golf balls and put those in a nest. I don’t think it will, but see if that helps. I’ve tried that a couple of times and did not get a hen to go broody on them, but one time a hen went broody on a different nest with one golf ball. Go figure.

I see where you said your hens are sleeping in the nests. You need to correct that, whether or not you get a broody but definitely before you get a broody. It’s quite possible a hen not broody could spend the night on a nest with the broody and poop on the eggs. You don’t want that.

The obvious question is whether or not the roosts are noticeably higher than the nests. If not, that needs to happen. You also need to have enough room on the roosts so they don’t have to crowd.

Chickens like to sleep on the highest thing around, but if they are in the habit of sleeping in the nests, you may need to get them out of that habit. There are a few different ways you could go about retraining them. You can physically move them from the nests to the higher roost after they have gone to bed and it is too dark for them to go back to the nests. Use as little light as possible when you move them up there. You can block the nests so they can’t get in them after you are sure they have finished laying for the day but you need to be out there pretty early to unblock them. Or maybe combine the two if they try to go back to the nests after you move them.

Once they get in the habit of sleeping on the roosts you can stop doing this. That might be one or two nights or may take a couple of weeks. Some are a lot more stubborn than others.

 

[3riverschick]

I collect eggs from under my broody hen every day. I let her stay broody because in this cold ,
it is the only way to keep the eggs from freezing between collections. Nice to go out in the bitter
cold and find nice warm eggs under her, smile. I suspect the eggs are keeping her bum warm too.
Best,
Karen