Is "Going Broody" a bad thing?

[Sweet Violet]

Hi there,
Is going broody a bad thing? I have 2 cochins that lay every day. I have a young orp and Wyandotte that haven't started laying yet. I don't own a rooster and live in a suburb where roos are not allowed. In other words, there will not be any eggs hatching. I take the eggs out of the coop every day.
Is there a way to prevent "going broody" or is this something every chicken will go through at one time or another?
Thanks for the information.
Naomi

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

It is not a bad thing. Some hens never go broody. Some will go broody at a drop of a hat and they will drop the hat. Since you have no male, your eggs will not hatch. You can "break" the gal up, or you can arrange with someone with fertile eggs to provide them. There are several advertisers on BYC that always have hatching eggs. One dozen would be fine under a hen.

 

[Southernbelle]

I love broodies because I love having little chicks around and the Mama hen does all the work of incubating the eggs and brooding the chicks, so involves little to no effort on my part. Some people hate having a broody hen because broody hens stop laying eggs when they've gone broody and most people would rather have the eggs. If you do get a broody and you don't want her to hatch eggs you can always break her of her broodiness. If you do want her to hatch eggs, there's always fertile eggs available on here or ebay or from hatcheries or Craigslist...