How many times a year, will a hen go broody?

[Chickenheadmate]

How many times will a hen go broody? Not any specific breed

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Well it does depend on the breed.
Breeds like orps and silkies will go broody around 1-5 times a year. Whilst breeds like legbars and barred rocks won't go broody as often/at all.

 

[aart]

Anywhere between never and over and over and over again.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

My silkie hen went broody 4 times in less than a year.
My other silkie has only gone broody once.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I've had hens that never went broody, hens that went broody once and never again, and I've had hens that tried very hard to stay broody from spring until fall. And that's with numerous different breeds.

 

[Pork Pie]

I had one bird that went broody every two weeks

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I have six 1 1/2 year old hens. I’ve only had one broody, a Dominique girl. She held strong against our deterring tactics for a while. Finally, I just made her go cold turkey by destroying her nest completely and not remaking it. It was a few days of glaring and broody-clucking, and her walking around the yard looking like a gray and white basketball, but she stopped eventually.

All my hens are “broody breeds”. I have one SS, two Doms, one BO, and two EEs.

Really, there’s got to be a million influencing factors. Age, breed, temperament, environment, time of year, food, other baby chicks around....(my hen set after a few weeks of having young babies in the house that she got to see when I brought them out on “field trips”. I soon sold them, but...the damage was done. She was determined.)