Is Broody necessarily Bad?

[FlowerOfScotland]

Good morning all,
I have three Buff Wyandotte hens. They are around one and a half years old and I’ve had them for a year now. One has never laid (I have been assured she is female even though she looks different from the others and crows like a cockerel, usually at 6am). But I love her/him anyway.
One of the other two girls goes broody almost every other month and usually within a week turns the other hen broody too. I was told by my breeder I should ’break’ her every time but I’m not comfortable with the cage method. If I block off the coop, the other hen has nowhere to lay and has resorted to laying in their dutbath which doesn’t seem fair to me either. Recently I’ve been waiting until the non-broody has laid then I remove the egg from the nesting box, remove the broody from the box, block off the nesting boxes and close them out of the coop until bedtime. Really my question is this... Is it so bad to let her do what she has to do even if she sits for up to four weeks? Why should the breeder tell me she must be ‘broken’? Is it bad for them? i know she’ll eat and drink At least once a day as I’ve spotted her Early in the morning, out and about, and she leaves a massive poop/evidence she has eaten. Is it so bad to leave her and let Nature take it‘s course? I’m sure you’ve heard this question so many times so apologies but I want to do the right thing for my girls. Oh... and I don’t mind if I don’t get eggs for a period of time, that’s not a problem.
thank you.

 

[cavemanrich]

Breeder tells you to break her,,,,,,, only so she will produce eggs.
I see no problem with what you are doing as you mention in your post. Certain chicken breeds go broody more often than other breeds. It is a natural action on part of a chickens life.
I never tried to break a broody, because I see no need to. I only keep chickens as pets, and eggs are fine, but not a necessity.
You sound like in a similar pet keeping group as I. .. You mentioned that eggs are not that important. Just keep your chickens happy, and all will be good.
I know that White Leghorns are chickens that RARELY go broody. (worlds most common chicken) If you do want a steady source of eggs, then that is an option to choose.
Glad to hear that your Roo is not very vocal. I cant keep roosters in my Urban Area here.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[MarkJr]

The only argument I see for breaking her is her health. My broody is broken immediately if I’m not wanting to have chicks. If not, she loses a third of her body weight over the next 3-5 weeks. That cannot be a healthy thing to do.

 

[The Happster]

All good except some birds are going sit until those eggs hatch, be that never.
If left to it, I have birds that will sit for weeks and weeks on end.
My birds are pets also. I don't care about eggs. I just don't want them to be inside - often in heat, too - when they could be using that time free ranging.
Chickens are active, and I don't see the need for them to be sitting inactive for no reason.

 

[FlowerOfScotland]

Thank you for your replies... I really appreciate your views. I too don’t like to see her in the coop all day but when I do close her out she is obviously NOT happy. Whats the most humane way of stopping her being broody if I was to go down that route? I am struggling with this issue as part of me says leave nature to it and part of me hates to see her brooding all day.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You can always get some hatxhable eggs for her. She might stop for the year if she hatched sonething.

It's bad for them if there's no reason to go broody. Their metabolism slows, they loose weight and they can ww their standing in the pecking order.

 

[The Happster]

Thank you for your replies... I really appreciate your views. I too don’t like to see her in the coop all day but when I do close her out she is obviously NOT happy. Whats the most humane way of stopping her being broody if I was to go down that route? I am struggling with this issue as part of me says leave nature to it and part of me hates to see her brooding all day.

If you can put a small pen in a nice location, that could work. A place where there's nowhere to brood. Idk how warm it gets in your area....it's easy enough for me to break mine kindly.
Best results I've gotten are from putting the afflicted bird in a pen on the grass. She can have a nice time romping around without being a lump of fluff.

 

[chrissynemetz]

A wire dog crate works really well as a broody breaker

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Thank you for your replies... I really appreciate your views. I too don’t like to see her in the coop all day but when I do close her out she is obviously NOT happy. Whats the most humane way of stopping her being broody if I was to go down that route? I am struggling with this issue as part of me says leave nature to it and part of me hates to see her brooding all day.

Honestly, caging her is the most humane way. I've been there. I've done as you done, but after months she wouldn't stop. I finally did a broody jail, and poof, in three days she was back to her normal self doing happy chicken things. It's SO MUCH EASIER.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

No, I gave my two some fertile eggs to hatch. It was fun!