How dependable is a broody?

[Disheygirl]

I have an Australorp who went broody after laying two eggs and I swear she’s been on and off every other month since then. Easy to break in a wire bottom cage for a day.

Even when she is broody, she seems to be kinda sorta broody. Stops laying, spends a lot of time on the nest, bare chest, but still gets out and socializes. Maybe 75% nest, 25% out with the other girls.

I was thinking about getting some fertile eggs, but I have no interest in incubating - is she broody enough, or do I need to wait for one who won’t leave the nest but for one trip to get food and water for five minutes each day?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I'd wait, or isolate her inside the coop in her own little wire kennel or similar cage. If she won't stay on the nest, other hens can get in there and lay more. Then how will you know when they'll hatch? Or like one of mine has done, sits for a couple of days then decides to move to another nest.

I have a nesting box just for hatching chicks. I put her and the eggs in there, and then push a milk crate on its side to the front of her box. I put food and water inside, and a couple of bricks on top. This way, she's trapped. If she wants to sit, she must sit on the eggs. After a couple of days, it's easy to tell if she's fully committed.

I can tell my broodies are fully committed when they sit on the same nest for a few days (even after I do daily egg collection), and when I reach in she fluffs up HUGE and growls at me. Sometimes they'll peck, sometimes not. But it's that FLUFF and growl that tells me she's ready.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Doesn't sound full blown broody to me.

You want a hen that is committed to sitting on the nest only to take a break once a day to eat/drink and take a quick dust bath. Usually the Max I see a broody off the nest is around 30-45 minutes in a 24hour period.

Even if you had a committed broody, you would still want to have a "contingency plan". Something could happen and you may need to finish incubating the eggs or even brooding the chicks once they hatch. Things happen, so having an incubator and the makings for a brooder as a backup is a practical approach that all keeper should have.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I can’t usually measure a hen’s broodiness by how much time she spends off the next. My free rangers will forage for a long time when they first start setting. I agree the best way to check is to stick your hand under her to see if she bows up and to make sure she stays on it a couple of nights in a row.

How old is your Austrolorp? If she’s young maybe she’s be a good setter when she matures out.