Informal research poll on broodiness

[LaurenRitz]

You should revise the poll to say "run" instead of "coop". I doubt anybody keeps their chickens locked up in the actual coop during the day.

That was the intent. Thanks for pointing it out. Unfortunately the system won't allow me to make changes to the existing poll questions, only add new ones.

 

[Leasw2]

My worst "broodies" are 2 bantam Frizzles. They are broody about 1/3 of their time. My Rhode Island Red goes broody about once a year. My Easter Egger and 2 Welsummers haven't gone broody yet. My hens are young, 1 and 2 year olds.

 

[DreamertK]

One of my buff orpingtons went broody. We got her as a chick from a farm shop. She eats layer feed. No roosters. She has a coop that's surrounded on all sides with kennel fencing (no problems with predators after that). They don't free range because the neighbors have loose dogs, there's also all kinds of critters around here. She's a year old now and has 2 sisters who haven't gone broody yet.

I got worried when her comb turned pale and started manually removing her from the nest. That didn't work. Then I took all of the eggs out (including the wooden fake eggs) and she seemed to get the picture that she wasn't having chicks. She's out and about now. And then I saw a couple cockroaches when I went to get the eggs a couple hours ago....That's actually what I came here to the forums for lol

 

[Love Donkeys]

We have 27 hens, 2 roosters and 7 four day old chicks. They are all Speckled Sussex which is a British breed. I had wanted a chicken that was a good layer, gentle, active forager and friendly. I knew when I chose the breed that there was a possibility that the hens could be broody, that trait didn't bother me. This is the third year the same hen has been broody. After she raises her chicks she goes back to her egg laying.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

We just went through hell week of broodies. Four different black Australorps decided to test the waters last Monday and Tuesday. Then last Thur two of our olive eggers and our Mama on Saturday (good Orpington we let hatch twice).

All BAs were back out by Friday, I think, and Goldie and Mama are still confined. And Goldie(olive egger) is a giant turd! She's mean and feisty and ain't no way she's sitting on eggs.

This will be Mama's... Fourth broody? Maybe fifth time. She's just peachy with the handling, talkative, we just don't need any more chicks-- I swear she only hatched out roos lol!

I didn't have enough cages so I had to get creative... We are in the process of making a special area just for them lol oye I'm so over broodies!

 

[Friendofchix]

I have a Buff Orpington hen that is a year and a half old that has been broody multiple times (seems like more often than not). I have taken all the eggs away from her multiple times, removed her nest pad several times, one time only allowed her access to the coop at night, and I had to put her in chicken jail the last time with only a roost and no bedding on a concrete floor to break her. She became broody again anyway.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Approximately 77 percent of respondents free range their birds. There does not appear to be a statistical correlation between free ranging and broodiness at this point.

There may be some kind of correlation between feed type and broodiness, but I would need more information to verify.

A correlation also between being raised by a broody vs incubated, which suggests a possibility of learned behavior.

I need more information on the rooster piece. Since I didn't ask the corresponding question that one has problems.

I have added a few questions. If those who have responded previously could answer them, the numbers might be clearer.

I wish there was a way to get accurate percentages--what percentage of birds go broody, in general and for individual keepers. I have had most of mine go broody at some point, others never do. And while some breeds are known for it, I haven't seen a breed correlation.

I have seen a hatchery correlation, although I have limited data (my BA's from a breeder go broody all the time, BA's from Hoovers don't).

 

[NatJ]

I have added a few questions. If those who have responded previously could answer them, the numbers might be clearer.

I just changed my answers, but it probably won't help much.

I chose everything except the "standard layer feed" options, because I have done everything else at one point or another, and I have had some broodies and some not-broodies in each case.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I just changed my answers, but it probably won't help much.

I chose everything except the "standard layer feed" options, because I have done everything else at one point or another, and I have had some broodies and some not-broodies in each case.

So, about what percentage of your birds have gone broody, even once? Counting only birds that reached adulthood (my birds seem inordinately fond of the Darwin Awards), I'm looking at about 2/3.

 

[NatJ]

So, about what percentage of your birds have gone broody, even once? Counting only birds that reached adulthood (my birds seem inordinately fond of the Darwin Awards), I'm looking at about 2/3.

Hmm. Probably less than 50% but more than 25% broody in the past two decades, during which time I have mostly had rare or unusual breeds (Dark Cornish, Sumatra, various bantams, etc.)

Before that, I mostly had breeds that were known to be good layers, and broodiness almost never happened (Sexlinks, Rocks, Leghorns, etc.) Maybe 1% broody?

I'm inclined to think that breeds made a big difference, but I don't have a perfect comparison because I don't think I ever had a flock with an even split of both types (breeds selected for high production/non-broodiness, and breeds without that selection).

Thinking back, I wonder how much effect lighting has?
The ones that never went broody were given artificial light in the winter.
The later ones (that included more broodies) had natural light plus whatever might have come from street lights, house lights, and similar sources (not enough other light to affect when they went to sleep and woke up in the morning).