How contagious is broodiness?

[K0k0shka]

I've read that broodiness can be contagious - one broody "inspires" others to follow suit. So I was wondering if anybody had more detailed experiences with that. For example, how long does the broody need to sit, for others to catch on? Does it still work if I take her out and they see her out and about (and hear the distinctive cluck) or is it only if they see her sitting? I know this isn't an exact science by any stretch, just curious. I currently have a broody, and technically I do want a broody this year, but I want a different one. This one has already hatched chicks for me, so I wanted to give somebody else the chance. I know I'll get another one eventually, just wanted to make use of this one to get the others going. She's been sitting for a couple of days and I haven't broken her because I want her to "inspire" one of the others. How long do you think I should let her sit? I'm trying to balance this with the fact that the longer she sits, the harder it will be to break her... So it's a complicated game I don't know if breed matters - she's a Barnevelder and they aren't known for going broody often, but this particular hen goes broody a LOT. I'm hoping one of my Orps will catch on so I can let one of them sit...

Here she is, looking beautiful and determined:

 

[Yardmom]

Getting a hen to go broody because another has is similar to forgetting to pick eggs. It might tip the scale toward broodiness on a hen that is starting to head that way anyway, but it is not going to make all the hens start sitting on eggs. I have had 2 Silkie sisters basically follow each other to the nest and successful hatch together. I have also had a hen try to collect chicks from other hens and try to pull incubator chicks through the brooder wire, but only sit on a nest a couple of nights in her desire for chicks.
I currently have a Silkie cross hatching today. She is in a coop with 3 other hens that were broody last year as well as 2 other Silkie hens. None of them have "chosen" this time to go broody.
Hens who have been previously broody are more likely to go broody again than a hen that has never gone broody. When we have broody hens we give them 3 or 4 eggs so all who want to can hatch out chicks without getting an overwhelming number of chicks.

 

[K0k0shka]

Getting a hen to go broody because another has is similar to forgetting to pick eggs. It might tip the scale toward broodiness on a hen that is starting to head that way anyway, but it is not going to make all the hens start sitting on eggs. I have had 2 Silkie sisters basically follow each other to the nest and successful hatch together. I have also had a hen try to collect chicks from other hens and try to pull incubator chicks through the brooder wire, but only sit on a nest a couple of nights in her desire for chicks.
I currently have a Silkie cross hatching today. She is in a coop with 3 other hens that were broody last year as well as 2 other Silkie hens. None of them have "chosen" this time to go broody.
Hens who have been previously broody are more likely to go broody again than a hen that has never gone broody. When we have broody hens we give them 3 or 4 eggs so all who want to can hatch out chicks without getting an overwhelming number of chicks.

Thanks for the input! I only want one more, not all of them. There's one that went broody last year, who's been sitting a lot for the past couple of days, but not in a nest. Just sitting under a bush outside. Not sure what to make of it... She's not puffing up or doing the voice (yet). Last year she sat in the actual nest. So I'll keep an eye on her. She's either broody, in which case if she gets serious then I'll give her eggs, or if not broody then something might be wrong with her The sitting is out of character and is worrying me, but she has no other symptoms.

 

[BDutch]

I have Dutch who like to join a sister who is broody after a couple of days or after more then week. If I let them do what the want.

2 hens can be nice, if this go well. It’s wonderfull to see how the mamma’s take care of their chicks. They seem more relaxed being mamma’s together as a single mother. But during the hatch it can cause fuss and problems with growth in the egg. 3 hens on 1 nest is probably always too much.

I think it depends on the individual and on the breed what to expect. But for a good hatch I recommend a quiet spot without any/too much fuzz.

 

[K0k0shka]

I want to update this in case anybody is wondering how it played out. It took maybe a week or two after I posted this until I got a second broody, and it was the one I'd had my eye on! I managed to find her eggs of the breed I wanted, local, so everything was going according to plan and I was so happy. But my dream girl ended up being a huge disappointment. While she was committed to sitting, she was being really dumb about it. She would return to the wrong nest again and again - an empty one, when hers was right next to it and full of eggs! And I only have 2 nests! Or she'd stay out too long. Or she'd lose eggs (I have no idea how, there was never any wetness from breaking or eating!) Meanwhile I had been trying to break broody #1 (from this post), but she was too persistent, and I'm glad she was. Broody #2 bombed the hatch. I had fenced her off so she couldn't reach the other nest, but a jerk from the flock broke through the barrier to lay in broody's nest, broody escaped through the opening and laid in the EMPTY NEST on day 20 with her eggs chirping already!!! It was my kids' birthday party that day and I was away all day, thinking I'd fenced her in and covered my bases. Returned in the evening to cold eggs. Took them all and finished them off in an incubator. Miraculously, 7 out of the 9 made it! When I started getting cold feet about broody #2, I stopped trying to break broody #1. She'd been sitting for just a few days undisturbed when I decided to gift her a couple of the freshly hatched chicks as a reward. They were 3 days old at the time. She took to them right away! Broody #2 got the rest of them. The two moms formed an alliance and raised the chicks together (sort of). Broody #1 did most of the work and took care of all of the chicks, but broody #2 had a strong preference for her own chicks. But even with them, she would sometimes forget to bring them into the coop for the night, or would roost too high where they can't reach, leaving them all alone. I had to go collect them from the run, cold and crying, to put under her. When they were about 4 weeks old, she decided she was done and booted them. Broody #1 took them all at that point, and continued mothering them until butcher day. Only one of the 7 was female, so we ate the rest. That female is 9 months old now, and her mom hasn't weaned her yet! Meaning, she never went through the mean phase where she chases them away after they grow up. Being a loner without peers now, the pullet is actively disliked by and chased around by the whole flock, except for that lovely Barnevelder mom, who is her only friend and lovely with her.

So, the takeaway for me from this story is that I'm going to give up on my notion of "letting others have a chance". This Barnevelder has raised chicks for me twice so far, and has been great both times. From now on, she's going to be my designated broody. Everybody else will face broody jail. The end!

Here are some pictures, just because they are cute

Very unexpected side of their relationship: the Barnevelder, despite being the more experienced one and the better mom, would sometimes pretend to be one of the chicks and stuff herself under her partner's wing!

This one was after the Orp forgot about her babies yet again. The Barnevelder managed to somehow get hers up to the roost, but the Orp's chicks were crying alone outside. I put them on the roost and the Barnevelder took all of them under her wings, and it really looks like she's giving her co-mom a stern talking to on the matter.

 

[Mrs. K]

I was quite surprised at your notion. I was thinking, 'wait, she HAS a broody that HAS successfully raised chicks, and she doesn't want to use her?'

Some birds are fantastic mothers, and some are not (all species are that way, even humans). Hatching under a broody can be a bit chancy. But once on here was a rolling thread where as people put in how many eggs they set, and how many eggs hatched, and when enough data had been collected it became pretty obvious that the average was about 50%, so anytime broody hen or incubator - over 50% you were lucky.

I have Mrs. Feathers - she is a bit older this year, but she has raised a lot of chicks for me. Some she hatched, and some I bought. She will stay her life time. This year, I do have two BA and a BO, and am kind of hoping they don't all go.

Mrs K

 

[K0k0shka]

I was quite surprised at your notion. I was thinking, 'wait, she HAS a broody that HAS successfully raised chicks, and she doesn't want to use her?'

Well, that’s because I don’t HAVE to hatch… I just do it because it’s fun, and I wanted different hens just out of curiosity, to see how they would do. I wanted some of my favorites to be moms, just sentimentally, would’ve been neat. But I have less and less time to manage the failed ones, so at this point I’m just going to go with what’s easy.

 

[BDutch]

Thanks for sharing Kokoska,
The longer I have chickens how more I tend to think that the hens knows best.
Maybe it’s more often true that the elder hen who has wants to be the broody is doing the best job. I think my eldest was trying to take over the nest from two other broodies a few years ago. But then I separated (fenced) the 2 broodies of from the eldest/rest of the flock. The 2 broodies both had a small nest. This was not a optimal settin. Lots of disturbance. And finally ,one morning , I found both of them sitting on one nest and the other nest was cold.

Not nice to have only one girl from a nest. I had that once too. The pullet was pestered by the other chickens after the brothers left too. And her mother didn’t care anymore. I regretted I had given away all the boys. If I had kept one until he was crying too loud, too early in the morning , maybe I could have avoided the bullying.

 

[ChickenHeartedHen]

Anyone else think broody hens look ridiculous when they strut around the yard to get some food?