how can you tell a hen is broody?

[Coopedup:p]

I have a hen that is making more noise than she normaly does when she is on the nest.... is she broody? if not, what does a broody hen act or look like?

 

[gritsar]

When a hen is sitting on the nest and you reach under her to collect the eggs and pull back a bloody stump, chances are she's broody.

Seriously, they sit on the nest all day and night and will go back to it when removed. They fuss and sometimes try to peck when disturbed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Gritsar is right.

There are several signs that a hen might be broody. The trance, the growl, a specific clucking sound, the attitude. But to me, if they spend two nights in a row on the nest instead of their normal roosting place, I figure they are broody.

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

They usually act obsessed with eggs and nests and sitting.
The way I usually can tell broodiness from just acting like they're broody is by picking them up and placing them outside the nest. Usually, the broodies won't go back to the nest right away; they just sit wherever I put them. If they keep sitting after several days, then I figure that they're probably broody.

 

[ChickyLoo]

I have several hens that display some of these symptoms but they will abandon the nest during the day? When I go check for eggs they get the "attitude" but they roam the rest of the day.

Does this mean they aren't quite ready? Are they more apt to be broody when the NE weather is more consistent or is that not a factor?

 

[gritsar]

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They may be thinking about it but haven't gone full blown broody yet. Keep in mind some hens just like to sit before and after laying an egg; to contemplate life I guess.

 

[cmom]

I agree...

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[AKsmama]

Another good sign is the "pancake" position (although not all do this). They get really flattened out when sitting. All of my broodies, when they are incubating but off the nest for a few minutes, puff out their feathers and hold out their wings, and do a very specific "cluck cluck cluck" sound. It's why old-timers called their broodies "cluckers." Mine also do a funny little motion when I take out eggs to mark them and then put them back- it's hard to describe, but they sort of scoot their legs together several times as they gather the eggs back under themselves.

 

[Dutchgirl]

They are broody when they growl and cluck angrily on the nest. They also tend to push eggs underneath them. They will stay on the nest all day and night, except for intervals when they get up to eat and drink. They shouldn't be off the nest for more than 30 minutes -- if you're hatching eggs, that is.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Someone described a Broody hen perfectly to me... She will be like a momma rapator! They really make a specific clucking and I notice when I would pick up my broody hen for her, eat, drink, poop break she kind of stayed low & puffed out still making her funny clucking. Then she would start to eat and go normal. Within ten minutes she was hopping back up there again.