Is it normal for a hen to NOT go broody?

[MareeZoCool]

My henwill be 1YO this June, she is spoiled, I have always given her free range on our property. She has an empty cardboard box as a nesting box. She lays an egg every day. I've been advised to leave 3 eggsin her nest to get her into the broody mood. Another suggestion was to put some golf balls in her nest.

 

[purr]

Some breeds have had the broodiness bred out of them.What breed is she?

 

[MareeZoCool]

She's a mix, Austalorp, Brahma, Gold comet, & Dominique. She looks like the Astralorp.

 

[Break an Egg]

Alot of breeds had the broodiness bred out of them, considering we wanted an egg layers for production. There are some breeds that will go broody like, wyandottes, orpingtons, and silkies.

 

[dacjohns]

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You can't make a hen go broody. Putting golf balls and fake eggs in a nest is what some people do to show their hens where to lay. I've never used that method and don't really have any problems. Instinct tells them use something like the nest box.

As a previous poster said, broodiness has been bred out of many varieties of chicken. Some varieties are more prone to broodiness. It seems like bantams of any variety are prone to broodiness.

 

[MareeZoCool]

Thank you, everyone!

 

[Uzuri]

From what I've seen around here, the best way to get her to go broody is to NOT WANT her to be broody.

Or maybe I'm just a glass-half-empty sort of person

 

[dacjohns]

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[NeeleysAVLChicks]

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I would agree with this completely. I've begged, I've pleaded, I've made extravagant promises of meal worms for life...nothing.

 

[gryeyes]

Many people get silkies JUST because they tend to go broody more than other breeds. But Buff Orpingtons are said to be occasionally prone to going broody. There's a breed chart, Henderson's I think, that lists that trait.

Have a look-see here: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html