Hen is perpetually broody

[Loon]

I have a silver laced Wyandotte who is approximately 7 months old. She has been broody every since the flock started laying eggs back in April. She allows the other hens to lay their eggs then she hops on and sits. I realize hens can go broody but this one seems to have been born broody and is not interested in doing anything except sit on eggs. Has anyone else ever had a hen who acted like this?

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Yeah, a few out of hundreds. The ability to mother isn't guaranteed just because she retains enough instinct to brood. In my experience, if she's brooding to the point of harming herself through lack of feed, or beyond the normal incubation and hatching period, she hasn't got the instinct to make a good mother.

The maternal instinct in chickens can be graded on a scale of 0 to 100 --- there's a huge amount of variety and discrepancy. Many hens who brood incessantly will merely move nest when chicks hatch under them. If they dont kill them, that is. Some are only interested in eggs, and won't do anything with chicks.

Some will accept chicks but remain with any eggs they spot, thereby being unfit mothers. Some hens I've culled because they went permanently broody, no matter how many times I broke them off the sit, and were starving to death, dehydrating daily, weak from lack of exercise, continually agitated.

Quote: In wild state in nature, yes. In domesticity, not always reliably. Humans have completely divested some breeds of maternal and paternal instincts. Some are confused about what mating is, even! A broody is not a guaranteed mother until she's proven herself by raising chicks, nothing is really proven by her going broody.

Quote: This attracts vermin and other chooks to stay on the nest which brings more fecal matter and any external parasites. If she has good instincts, she will leave the nest to eat and drink, dustbathe, sun and exercise herself each day; if she lacks that instinct she lacks others necessary to being a truly great mother.

 

[The Mother Hen]

I have two hens that a broody, and since we have a rooster I've allowed them to hatch some eggs. Being a broody hen is nothing to worry about, in fact it's kind of encouraged! If she just wants to sit, take her out of the nesting box a few times so she can eat, drink, and do her business. Broody hens aren't a problem, but if she will peck you when you get her eggs wear a thick oven mitt or gloves so her peck or pinch doesn't hurt. In hot areas she will be off her eggs longer so you can get them, but if it's cold outside she will be very quick about eating, drinking, going poo and walking around to strech.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: Instinct is a bit like a vaguely remembered dream until the first time an animal acts on it successfully. Then it is validated and thus reinforced, cemented, and becomes a real part of their behavior that they will repeat as regularly as the opportunity presents itself with the hormonal drive also propelling it. If acting upon that instinctual yearning resulted in an outcome the animal liked, then it will try to repeat it. So yes, once a hen fulfills mothering, it becomes an even stronger yen than it was before she 'realized' it. She will start noticing and getting fussy about the particulars as she practices being a mother.

If you'd never let her brood, and repeated this for a good few of her descendants who you hatched artificially or via another hen, then soon enough you would have weakened the brooding and mothering instinct from her direct family line until it was almost non existent. Now that she's fulfilled it, her daughters are so much more likely to also make good mothers in their turn. Using an artificial incubator also helps destroy mothering instinct in a genetic line. More than you asked about but kinda all related and relevant. Anyway, best wishes.

 

[five is my dog]

yes that is what a broody is.

they sit until they get chicks if you had fertilized eggs i would give them to her. broody hens raise chicks its what they do.

 

[buttercup95]

I wouldn't worry at all I once had a young bantam hen who would try and sit on any egg no matter what size. She hatched so many eggs for us it was a god send

 

[Eggcessive]

Broody hens can become very thin and emaciated when they have been broody for a long period. Some can starve themselves, so I would put her in a cage for 3-5 days, preferably with no bedding so her bottom will be cool. Mine usually break in 3-4 days; if not they go back in.

 

[five is my dog]

Broody hens can become very thin and emaciated when they have been broody for a long period. Some can starve themselves, so I would put her in a cage for 3-5 days, preferably with no bedding so her bottom will be cool. Mine usually break in 3-4 days; if not they go back in.

as long as you keep food and water within reach of her she shouldnt become to thin. if you dont want chicks the cage Eggcessive mentioned should work. i would soak her in cool water every day while in the cage that helps to lower body temp making her think she is too cold for brooding. raising chicks is what they do i would let nature run its course and let her raise some chicks.

 

[buttercup95]

Broody hens can become very thin and emaciated when they have been broody for a long period. Some can starve themselves, so I would put her in a cage for 3-5 days, preferably with no bedding so her bottom will be cool. Mine usually break in 3-4 days; if not they go back in.

as long as you keep food and water within reach of her she shouldnt become to thin. if you dont want chicks the cage Eggcessive mentioned should work. i would soak her in cool water every day while in the cage that helps to lower body temp making her think she is too cold for brooding. raising chicks is what they do i would let nature run its course and let her raise some chicks.

I agree, if you do want to have your hen remain broody just make sure she has food and water within reach. I have never tried to break a hen from being broody. However, I usually have a few fertilized eggs I can slip under the hen and once they hatch it's the perfect mom.

 

[Loon]

This broody hen does get off the nest and eats and drinks and runs around a bit then gets right back on the nest. The last time I let a hen set on eggs she hatched out 9 chicks. Six of them turned out to be roosters. I suppose I could isolate her with a couple eggs and let her set on them and hatch them and hope they aren't roosters. The other broody hen I had was a fabulous mother and it was fun to watch her raise the babies. I just hate to feed and take care of a bunch of roosters that I wind up giving away anyway. I have a small coop I could put her in with the nest and eggs in it and see what happens. Thanks for the advise. If I just ignore this and keep taking the eggs will she eventually give up being broody?