How to make hens go broody.

[KaylorFarms]

Quote:
That is so funny!

 

[shortgrass]

I've tried. They are Australorps, and even though they are very broody, they won't brood in spring. They are strictly end of summer/fall broodies. Darn Australians with their upside down seasons.

Are they good broodies for you? I'm scared of mine, since last year I had one of mine go broody and she smothered the chicks on the first night after hatch


Might have just been a first timer fluke? I've never had that happen before but it makes me really leery of letting her set.

 

[shortgrass]

That is so funny!

She's pretty predictable lol, but I was still pleasantly surprised

 

[junebuggena]

Are they good broodies for you? I'm scared of mine, since last year I had one of mine go broody and she smothered the chicks on the first night after hatch

Might have just been a first timer fluke? I've never had that happen before but it makes me really leery of letting her set.

One is a fantastic mother, one is completely clueless when it comes to keeping a clutch of more than 3 chicks warm and protected, one is too rough with the eggs and is too inconsistent with sitting to hatch anything. They are all still young though. Last summer was the first time going broody for two of them.

 

[KaylorFarms]

my relatives barred rocks and buff orpingtons are broody and are sitting on their eggs right now they should be hatching soon.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

I agree with Junebuggena...

Going broody is hormonal. I used to think people's hens went broody because they didn't collect eggs everyday. Only to find out that my hens will sit on nothing and brood air for more than a month if I don't break them.

I have successfully adopted fresh chicks to a broody that had only sat on air for a couple of days. So far my girls are young and keep making rookie mistakes like going back to the wrong box. I guess that would be a good reason not to let them brood in the coop with everyone else laying.

My BO went broody very shortly after starting to lay. After she sat on her hidden nest for a good couple weeks she abandoned it. My 3 Silkies seem broody every other month. And my FBCM actually went broody about 3 months after starting to lay.

Since my end goal is to have all my chicks raised by broody's, and I have enough other layers... it's kind of exciting to see that it is possible. Just note that my broody raised chicks avoid human contact so far. I will be curious to see how that changes as they age and mature.

So much fun to see nature taking it's course, even if it isn't completely natural.

 

[shortgrass]

I think there's room for experimenting on this... Hormones can be activated by certain chemicals in different plants, for instance. Lights can be manipulated. I've had hens go broody en masse just by seeing a few chicks in a box from the store


I'm just thinking along the lines of the ducks and turkeys. They won't set until they have a certain number of eggs in the clutch, and if I remove a few, they'll keep on laying until they reach a goal and start to set. Their hormones were already going because they were laying, but the accumulation is what triggers them to set.


Granted, chickens aren't quite as intelligent as that lol, but I usually keep my eggs out of the coop. I have a couple of possible egg eaters, so I gather 3x a day. If I want Momma to go broody(she's my most reliable one) I leave 4 eggs in one nest for about a week, and she'll lay in that nest for a few days and add a few more then she goes broody. Works on her, but the rest just go broody after seeing her hatch chicks. It's like a chain reaction if broodies lol..


Only works in spring though, at least, for me. They're already naturally hormonal anyway, so it might not even be making a difference. I might just be confusing them