Hen Still Broody in July?

[Sassy Hen]

I have a Blue Ameraucana hen that is about 8 months old. I read that they go broody so in March—April I checked on her, she was just as normal. However in mid-May she started to go broody and from then to now (July) she has been and still is broody. Is this normal? Our hens are our pets so we don’t really care about egg production but I don’t think staying in a nesting box all day will be good for her. I’ve thought she was broody but is she sick? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[beau4sammy]

We usually get a broody hen in June or July each year (we live in SE WI). We have bought a few day old chicks and placed them under our broody hen and she raised them up! If you cannot add any, this wont help you unfortunately, but it would help her get out and about with a purpose.

 

[rosemarythyme]

She's been broody since May? Since it sounds like you're unsure, what broody signs have you seen?

If you're pretty sure it's broodiness, have you made any attempts to break her? Hens can die from broodiness (weight loss, muscle loss, increased risk of parasites)... if there's no intention to hatch, for their health it's best to break them promptly as soon as you confirm broodiness.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Yup it’s completely normal for hens to go broody in July too! We have a bunch of hens trying to go broody right now! Our bantams have been broody since May as well! We’ve already broken it for four of them and let one hatch out chicks! Now two that we broke are going broody after being “broken” for about a week! And our one bantam that hatched out chicks is broody again as well! We are slowly breaking them all over again by taking them out of the nest boxes every time we go in the house and putting them on the perch every night! But it is working!

 

[yakitori]

Is she eating properly? pick her up, does she feel lighter than normal? feel her keel bone, does it feel abnormally sharp? if so, I would work on breaking her. you can put her in a wire crate propped up on some cinderblocks so air can flow underneath. probide food, water and maybe a piece of stud to roost on so her feet wont get tired

 

[aart]

She's been broody since May? Since it sounds like you're unsure, what broody signs have you seen?

If you're pretty sure it's broodiness, have you made any attempts to break her? Hens can die from broodiness (weight loss, muscle loss, increased risk of parasites)... if there's no intention to hatch, for their health it's best to break them promptly as soon as you confirm broodiness.

Ditto Dat!!

Here are my go-to signs of broodiness:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, you should really break ASAP.

​

 

[Sassy Hen]

Ok I will try breaking her. I saw some clear liquid come out of her beak when she went out of the nesting boxes. Is that something I should worry about? Or was she just “drooling” because she saw her roommates eating mealworms? LOL

 

[yakitori]

Ok I will try breaking her. I saw some clear liquid come out of her beak when she went out of the nesting boxes. Is that something I should worry about? Or was she just “drooling” because she saw her roommates eating mealworms? LOL

What does her crop feel like? does her breath smell bad?
It could just be her leaking a bit after drinking water, or it could be sour crop. It would be good to check just in case.

 

[Sassy Hen]

As far as I can tell her breath doesn't smell like anything, but I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to check. Her crop feels slightly flat, probably because she doesn't eat as much as she usually does. I want to break her but I don't have a dog crate or anything. Is it possible to break her broodiness by just blocking all of the entrances to the nesting box? I don't care if it takes a long time.

What does her crop feel like? does her breath smell bad?
It could just be her leaking a bit after drinking water, or it could be sour crop. It would be good to check just in case.

 

[yakitori]

As far as I can tell her breath doesn't smell like anything, but I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to check. Her crop feels slightly flat, probably because she doesn't eat as much as she usually does. I want to break her but I don't have a dog crate or anything. Is it possible to break her broodiness by just blocking all of the entrances to the nesting box? I don't care if it takes a long time.

i want to say yes, but mine continued to be broody even afterwards, for an entire month in fact. She ran around in broody mode and wasnt eating properly.

She didn’t break until i stuck her in a crate raised 12in off the ground.