Informal research poll on broodiness

[NatJ]

It says "Yes, I have a rooster" - there's no "I don't have a rooster option" +"Yes broody"

I also don't free range for more than a few minutes, which isn't free ranging, but there's no "Yes broody, but I don't free range all day nor do the birds stay penned all day" - there's only free range or coop as options, neither applies.

I can click incubated if you count birds that are incubated elsewhere, but with everything else... Am I seriously the only person confused??

IMO none of the above really affects broodiness - breed is the biggest factor (which isn't taken into account at all) and of course the hormones in each individual bird regardless of breed.

I agree the poll options are a bit confusing, and there are definitely some things missing, but I'm not sure it can be made much better and still be made as a poll on this site.


There is another thread, that started to have a discussion of factors involved in broodiness. People were trading ideas about what conditions might make a hen more or less likely to go broody, and one of them decided to start this poll to try to get more information.

I see what you mean about breed, but the discussion in the other thread included hens that go broody even if their breed is not known for it, and hens that do not go broody even if their breed is known for broodiness, and individual hens that go broody when owned by one person but not when owned by another person-- all of those make it seem that other factors are involved, and this poll is trying to identify some of them.

That other thread is
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/landrace-adaptive-breeding-discussion.1624350/

 

[Debbie292d]

Do you have chickens that go broody?

To me who raises only silkies, you can imagine what I'd say lol.

 

[NatJ]

To me who raises only silkies, you can imagine what I'd say lol.

Does every Silkie hen of yours go broody, or just some of them?

Have you noticed anything that seems to trigger them going broody, or prevent broodiness?

 

[Debbie292d]

Does every Silkie hen of yours go broody, or just some of them?

Have you noticed anything that seems to trigger them going broody, or prevent broodiness?

Nothing triggers them that I've ever picked up on in eight years.

A couple go broody constantly, like take a month off, then right back to it again. Every one of them has at one point or another. If I put a bunch of their eggs in a nest, I know I'd have at least two of them trying to sit on them, as they've done that.

If there was any way to prevent it, I would. The past couple of years I've been breaking them of it because they were getting ragged looking. There is a noticeable difference in that they look much healthier and prettier if I don't let them be broody.

This is broody jail. They go back to the coop at night, then whoever is broody in the morning, they go to jail. It takes 4 days usually.



I don't let them hatch anymore due to the last three times they did, we ended up raising their chicks as they abandoned them. The chicks were left to free-range on their own while their mother went back to the coop to be broody again. They were 4 weeks old twice, and 6 weeks old the next. We built a temp coop for them as once she's done with them, they aren't allowed in the coop anymore as they are picked on by her and all of them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree the poll options are a bit confusing, and there are definitely some things missing, but I'm not sure it can be made much better and still be made as a poll on this site.


There is another thread, that started to have a discussion of factors involved in broodiness. People were trading ideas about what conditions might make a hen more or less likely to go broody, and one of them decided to start this poll to try to get more information.

I see what you mean about breed, but the discussion in the other thread included hens that go broody even if their breed is not known for it, and hens that do not go broody even if their breed is known for broodiness, and individual hens that go broody when owned by one person but not when owned by another person-- all of those make it seem that other factors are involved, and this poll is trying to identify some of them.

That other thread is
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/landrace-adaptive-breeding-discussion.1624350/

Gotcha... thank you! Makes a lot more sense with the expanded information.

I so far haven't had a broody this year but that's partially because 2 of the birds that would go broody passed last year. One bird has been partially broody the entirety of spring. Too bad, because I had chicks I was willing to stuff under her if she wanted to be a mama.

 

[Evadig]

I have nine hens, four chicks, and two roosters. One one hen has ever gone broody - she is sitting on her first clutch of eggs right now and is due to hatch in five days.

She is a nine-month-old Jubilee Orpington and came from a small farm. I am not sure whether she herself was raised by a broody mom or hatched in an incubator.

All my hens free range except during bad weather or days when I am gone. I feed them Kalmbach All Flock Maintainer.

The rest of my hens show no interest in going broody. They all came from major hatcheries except for two, who came from another farm.

 

[MountainWoman73]

I think individual temperament and breed are the two most important factors. I treat all my birds the same, and have only had three individuals go broody on me. One was a Black Copper Marans, one was a Bielefelder (who was broody so often and so insistently we just called her Broody Hen) and one was a BCM x Bielefelder cross, who was the biological daughter of the BCM mentioned above and probably the biological niece of Broody Hen, because I got my bilefelder rooster from the same batch of chicks. The mixed hen's hatch mom was Broody Hen. The other two were incubator chicks.

In my experience, a hen who has been broody before probably will do it again. And that's the only reliable indicator.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I'm not really sure that the poll will reveal factors that contribute to or discourage broodiness. For example it has "they," where I only have 1 that goes broody out of 15. So what applies to the one going broody also applies to those that do not. That said if it helps the results: SHE free ranges, all flock 20%, not raised by broody, not kept cooped (if that means the opposite of free ranging, no rooster. I'll be interested in what your conclusions are here incase you do make some correlations.

 

[Australorpfamily]

I have 3 that go broody near monthly. We have a large coop/covered run (have an article for reference)

Mama- buff Orpington, hatched two broods, plus broody twice just over one year old

Black Australorps - have had three separate year old hens go broody, one twice now (two are currently in broody jail)

Olive egger- have one that tried, broke her easily and the second -Goldie- second broody didn't want to break after 6 days (and she's about to go back into broody jail )

If anyone knows how to keep them from going broody? Hit me up! LOL!

They have lots of room. Lots of sun, nest boxes and free food 20% plus oyster on side. I guess they are just super happy but OMG gurls! Ya keeling me! Lol

 

[K0k0shka]

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.

I think broodiness is individual (with some breeds more likely to do it than others), not dependent on management. I manage all my chickens the same way, yet I have a couple that will go broody every month from February to September, and then I have others that have never gone broody in their lives.