How broody is too broody?

[flakey chick]

This is "Little Miss Nissa Broody Pants".

She went broody just 1 month after starting to lay. I let her sit and then slipped a couple of day-olds under her. She was a great mom. After she raised the chicks, she went back to laying for about a month, then boom- broody. I broke her, she went broody again 1 month later, then I broke her once more.

Now she is at it again and I am having trouble breaking her. She has plucked her belly bare and I am afraid letting her brood would be bad for her health. She is a pet, so I don't mind the lack of eggs so much, but the health of my flock. Re-integration was a pain too.

At least she is 1 year old now. My flock is just the right size, so I don't want any more. But I remember how cute she was and what a good mommy she was. Part of me is thinking I should get some fertile eggs and sell the chicks. Which is going to be harder on her- letting her brood again, or breaking her every other month?

 

[stuckinthecity]

Wow, I WANT THAT HEN!
Ive never had a hen at my house, NOW, to set and raise chicks.

I can't keep a rooster, and Im blaming it on that. lol
But just get a few eggs and put under her. Maybe, with your luck only one or two will hatch and then maybe they will start to grow on you,

 

[Attack Chicken]

She's a cutie!!!! I want a broody so bad

 

[Year of the Rooster]

IMO, I think it would hurt her more to brood again rather than to break her. If she keeps brooding like that every month, she may not gain enough weight in time for the next time she goes broody.

 

[chickenannie]

does she go broody even if you collect the eggs every day? That usually keeps them from going broody.

Personally, I would let her go through a broody cycle and trust that she knows/nature knows what to do. You may not be "breaking" her off of brooding completely and she might need to complete the cycle on her own.
Just thinking this through... If hens could die from going broody it wouldn't make much sense in terms of evolution.

by the way, she's beautiful.

My 2 cents.

 

[flakey chick]

I collect the "real" eggs every day, but leave one or 2 wooden ones in the box. If I remove the nest egg, they get upset and start laying on the floor- or holding it until I let them out.

I guess I need to look for some fertile eggs and just let her sit. Sigh, you know your pets are spoiled when you indulge them by getting them their own very own pets.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
This would make sense if chickens had not been bred and inbred and crossbred for generations, whether for not going broody, laying larger or more eggs, growing larger breasts or drumsticks, whatever.

 

[thethreadedgarden]

She is sooo sweet, but watch out! I have 6 banties and they were a year old this past February. 5 out of 6 has went broody this spring. Three of them started all at the same time so I got 9 fertilized eggs and out of that came 6 chicks, then another hen went broody and I got 2 eggs and two hatched, and then another hen went broody and I got 5 eggs and 4 hatched. it's carzy and currently the hen that started this in the spring is now broody again. I take her off the nest every morning and lock her in the outside pen. I've been doing this for about 4 days now. I'm hoping she will come around. I love my chickens and am a big marshmellow. I gave three chicks away and now I have a total of 17 banties. I'm sure some are roosters so the number will decrease before winter.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I noticed you said reintegration was a pain. I don't know your set-up or management philosophies, so what I'm going to say may not apply to you. We are all different with different setups and reasons for keeping chickens.

As you probably know, you can either isolate the broody so the other hens cannot lay in her nest while she is brooding or you can leave her with the flock in her regular nest. People successfully do it both ways. I personally believe in isolating but if my set-up were different, I'd think differently. But I isolate in the coop. The same with raising chicks with the flock instead of isolaing them. People do it both ways. I prefer her raising the chicks with the flock. My set-up. My philosophy.

If she stays with the flock to hatch and raise her chicks, there are no reintegration issues for her and she takes care of most of the serious integration issues for her chicks. The chicks still have to handle the pecking order issues as they grow after they are weaned but these are usually not too violent. If she and the chicks are totally isolated from the flock, yes it is a total integration. If the broody pen and grow-out pen are in the coop or run (with adequate predator protection) where the other chickens can see them daily, especially if you feed the other chickens right next to the broody and chicks where they are forced to see them daily, the reintegration issues are usually much less.

I don't guarantee that you won't have integration issues with this, but I think your odds improve quite a bit.

Good luck whichever way you decide.

 

[willkatdawson]

I know what you are going through! I have 4 buff orpington hens and 2 of them have been broody for about the past 4 months. I did let one of them hatch eggs in March. She was fine raising the chicks then she went right back into being broody. I have another who has been broody for 2 months now even though I collect eggs everyday I don't even have false eggs. She plucked her breast also and just sit in the nest box eggs or no eggs. We take her out when we let the others out in the am to freerange and she comes out puffed up acting all demented, finding bugs and calling the adults over then chasing them. I'm really tired of it. I don't want anymore chicks. We loved the process of waiting for the eggs to hatch with our first broody and I even thought about offering to let her sit on a byc members eggs then take the chicks when they are ready. Maybe that would finally break her. I really wish I had gotten only barred rock hens. They are so easy and sweet.