- Jan 29, 2010
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I have had lots of experience with broody hens - my 2 little bantams Lavender and Beatrice (Bea very sadly had to be put to sleep due to illness earlier this week). Every summer they would both go broody at some stage, but if I was not at work I could spot the early signs - i.e. sitting longer than normal on their egg, getting cross with me if I spoke to them or stroked them - but even before that they would constantly cluck whilst out and about in the garden or when the other one went near them, and fluff up their feathers. If you spot the signs very early you can nip it in the bud and stop the broodiness by keeping them off their nest and distracted by more interesting things like worms and bugs, (the heat generated by their "brood patch" perpetuates the broodiness or so I've been told). But once the broodiness has set in I think it's cruel to try to stop them sitting - they're only doing what comes naturally, so just let them get it out of their systems. So what if they don't lay any eggs for a few weeks? They're not machines. They will normally be broody for 21 days, but Beatrice has been much longer than that in the past. They will come out once or twice a day to eat, drink and go to the loo, but keep clucking all the time they are out, and will be very upset if another chicky goes near them, fluffing up their feathers big time and trilling a warning! Once when Bea wouldn't come out of her broody phase I resorted to taking the egg away, breaking it so it looked like it had hatched then putting it back in her nest - it worked! She inspected it and not long after came flying out of her nest and deposited the egg with it's yucky, gooey, almost toffee-like contents on the lawn.It probably smelled awful. I also had a toy Easter chick which I pretended was her chick by making little tweeting sounds - I must have looked such an idiot! She wasn't impressed with the fake chick but that was the end of her broodiness for that summer. Please don't be mean to your broody hens - just make sure they're well looked after during this period.
