HOW do you encourage a chicken to..

[annie3001]

How do you encourage a chicken to go broody?
looking for lots of tips please.

p.s. hopefully this was posted in the correct spot.

 

[cletus the rooster]

maybe dont collect the eggs for a couple of days?other than that you are at the mercy of Mother Nature

 

[teach1rusl]

You can't; It's kind of a hormonal thing that's like an instinct. You can increase your odds by choosing breeds that are more prone to going broody...

 

[annie3001]

okay i am gonna leave all the eggs.... would the eggs (if not sat on for a long time by a possible broody) would the eggs be good to eat/sell? or if any of my chickens deceide not to go broody, then can i collect them?

thanks for all the quick responses...
also these are some of the breeds i have..


plymouth rock
rir
campine
white rir (i think)
welsummer
and cochin

 

[teach1rusl]

No offense to the other poster, but leaving the eggs in there won't encourage a hen to go broody. Now, it won't hurt to let them sit in there for a week or so (you can still eat them), but it won't help. A broody hen will sit on a golf ball or nothing at all, and one that's not broody won't sit for more than an hour or two no matter if there's a mountain of eggs there (and you'd end up with a lot of broken eggs). Click on the "Breeds" tab at the very top of your screen. On the breeds list, the next to the last column tells whether your breeds are known for going broody or not, and will show you what breeds you might want to add to your flock. Good luck!

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
awe-man i was going to leave the eggs today too.

okay-- ill go and check my breeds/lists
thank you

 

[ibpboo]

My silkie goes broody all the time, so does my game hen.
The others never have.

Recently, I gave my silkie a chick to raise. She was scratching and clucking at it to eat food etc. It was funny, because one of my 8 year old RI (production) started fluffing her feathers and doing the mama hen cluck and scratching. She had never displayed this behavior before. I thought, oh, Cotton has shown her how to be a mama. But, she has stopped now.

 

[PunkinPeep]

With the breeds you have, i bet if you wait until spring, you have some voluntary broodies without trying. By this time next year, you might asking us how to break their broodiness.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:

awe thats so cute.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
ok i was thinking....waiting till spring....just getting that new chicky feeling.