how many eggs till gone broody

[L*A*G*]

About a year ago I bought a $16.00 RIR hen that came from a
decked out egg farm. Kinda high for me OK. And next she made
her very own nesting spot so I let her go broody. 14 eggs not yet sitting!? Is she just not a broody? Is it her breed? Well that was a
while ago but in the spring I want to see a hen raise chicks the
ALL NATRUAL WAY!!! I have a nice henhouse now and only have
RIRs. should I change breed? What should I do?

I can't wate to see a hen do it the "ALL NATRUALWAY!!!"

Let me know, Larra

 

[Shared Acres]

Some times they just take a while.

I collect my eggs every day, but leave golf balls in there. If I come out and after a day she's STILL sitting on golfballs, I give her some eggs.

 

[Marlinchaser]

she may never go broody for you, leaving the eggs in the nest will only make them eggs you wont want to eat.

 

[Southernbelle]

Some breeds have more of a tendency to go broody than others. Unfortunately, RIRs rarely go broody. Leaving eggs for them won't really entice them to set.

I have all sorts of chickens in my flock. It's nice to have some non-broody types so that I'll always have eggs because once they go broody they stop laying for a while. I wouldn't get rid of your RIR's. They're really nice chickens and they lay such great eggs.

If you have the space, get some Silkies or another broody breed and use them to hatch anything you want. I like the natural way, too. It's so much easier to let the hen do all the work!

 

[chickenannie]

About 1/4 of my RIRs went broody. The rest weren't interested. Just give it time.

This time of year it won't happen though. Wait until spring -- that's when most chickens go broody.

 

[L*A*G*]

It's me again. sounds like there is a way to tell if a hen is broody. How!?

 

[cmom]

If they are broody they will sit in a nest day and night just getting off long enough for a little feed and water. RIR's have a reputation of being non-broody. I have 18 RIR girls. I have never had one go broody.

 

[chickenannie]

*L*A*G* :

It's me again. sounds like there is a way to tell if a hen is broody. How!?

There is no way to tell if a hen will go broody. You just have to wait and see and in the springtime, don't take the eggs away.
They are highly affected by the number of daylight hours, so they're not going to go broody now when the days are getting shorter.

I was worried last spring that I wouldn't have broody hens, but let me just say that despite my worrying, next thing you know, I had one, then two, then four, then six broody hens and I was desperate for them to stop! So be careful what you wish for.

 

[Attack Chicken]

Do leghorns ever go broody?

 

[Southernbelle]

Quote:
I've heard a few stories on here about broody Leghorns, but I think it's really, really rare.