How old before they get broody

[effie]

I have some BO's that are 7 months old that have been laying for a couple of months and I have one that is acting broody--how old are they usually before they get broody??? My other question is do they continue to lay an egg every day during the 3 weeks it takes for the eggs to hatch or do they stop. she has been on the nest fo two days and when I saw her still there today i went ahead and placed 5 more eggs in her box and she took her beak and rolled them right up underneath herself. I was going to order some more BO's but since she seems broody I am going to let her hatch some out if it is feasible.

 

[LilBizzy]

I had some bantums that became broody within a week of laying their first egg, so I guess they can go broody at any age. They do stop laying eggs when sitting. Mine didn't start laying again until the chicks were about 5 or 6 weeks old (and then the silly things went broody AGAIN).
Since you were already planning to get more, I'd say let her hatch them out- it's much easier to let a chicken be the mamma LOL
I dont know about the timing, though- I know the mother hen will keep her babies warm, but I don't know if they all might need supplemental heat in winter. You might ask that on a different thread if yu decide to let her try to hatch.

 

[DanEP]

I have three broody right now. One is a 16 month old bo, one 8 month old australorp, and a 6 month old white rock. The wr was the most determined of all of them. If I took her eggs she would steal golf balls from the other nest boxes, anywhere from 5 -7 a day so I finally gave her a couple of eggs to sit on and she's happy now and has quit stealing golf balls. If you decide to let her set just make sure to mark the eggs you want her to hatch so you can remove any late arrivals.

 

[effie]

cool beans!!! I will mark the eggs and let her set. I am putting supplemental heat in there for her when they hatch. Oh boy!! Excited now! Oh, and is it OK that I stuck some of the other hens eggs in with her????

 

[h8snags]

I had two BO's that went broody at 7 months! I let one stay broody, and slipped some eggs (fertilized eggs of another chicken, my red sexlink) under her when I knew she was set for good, and she didn't care that they weren't hers! She stayed on them until there were only 4 days left... the eggs didn't hatch, I think she knew they went bad. I will try it again in the spring if she goes broody again! One of my other BO's wants to be broody, the last two days I've had to snap her out of setting! LOL! They'll be good mamas one day! LOVE my Orps!!!

 

[chixruleboysdrool]

I want to hatch eggs with my hens. How frequent do Rhode Island Reds go broody? They are almost 6 months old.

 

[LilBizzy]

You could stick any eggs in there that you want. They don't care where the eggs come from- we had a chicken hatch out 2 ducks .

chicxrule- they may never go broody. RIR's aren't a breed that typically will go broody. It really all depends on the chicken, though. SOme never take an interest in becoming a mama.

 

[effie]

Is there a ballpark guess as to how many they like to set on for a clutch??

 

[kittykat01]

My BR Matilda has gone broody after laying only about a dozen eggs, total. (She is about 26weeks....) She layed for 2 weeks then went broody and is still that way after 1 week of trying to 'broody break' her

I don't have a rooster, so can't give her anything to hatch. I guess some girls are just programmed to want to be Mama hens!

 

[elmo]

Quote:
You might not need to put supplemental heat in for the chicks; wait and see. Usually, the hen provides all the heat the chicks need, although these will be hatching out in winter.