How can I get my hens to brood?

[debbienc]

I would like for my hens to brood, but they just lay their eggs and won't sit on them. When is the time when they start sitting on the eggs? I would think with the warm weather they would already have done this. They are almost a year old, and they have never had babies before. Thanks

 

[galanie]

You really can't get them to brood. They either will, or they won't. As for time of year, I've had them go broody in the dead of winter and the heat of high summer. For some reason, hormones will trigger and they'll go broody.

 

[BuffOrpington88]

What breed are they? You can't force a hen to go broody. In some breeds the broodiness has been bred out of them.

 

[debbienc]

What breed are they? You can't force a hen to go broody. In some breeds the broodiness has been bred out of them.

They are Rhode Island Reds

 

[debbienc]

You really can't get them to brood. They either will, or they won't. As for time of year, I've had them go broody in the dead of winter and the heat of high summer. For some reason, hormones will trigger and they'll go broody.

Ok, thank-you. Maybe they will brood soon, I hope.

 

[Jean Luc]

Indeed, If they have been hatched in an incubator they loose their instinct to brood. If your hen wont brood because they have themselves been artifically incubated, its very rare to find one who wants to brood. Generally speaking, the older a hen gets the better her motherly instinct is.

 

[Impress]

If they are hatchery Rhode Island reds, they may never go broody. The hatcheries have bred that out of them, focusing on egg laying.

I have had plenty of incubator born chicks grow into fantastic brooders, I have found it depends more on the breed and background then how they were hatched.

 

[Jean Luc]

Good info. thanks. I have never had one of mine try to brood. I have several races all mixed together. They have come from an incubator for many generations. maybe thats why they wont brood. I wish one would, I could breed the instinct back into them.