Is my hen going broody? In need of advice

[stinkysneakers]

Hello all! I'm new to BYC and to chicken keeping. Would some of you more experienced chickeneers look at this video of my hen's behavior and tell me if you think she may be going broody, and what I should do now? Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Broody.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you don't have fertile eggs for her to hatch. Break her now or get eggs.
The longer they're broody, the harder it is.
Or you could get some baby chicks and stick them under her.

 

[SummerSaige]

If you don't have fertile eggs for her to hatch. Break her now or get eggs.
The longer they're broody, the harder it is.
Or you could get some baby chicks and stick them under her.

x2. If you don't want any chicks, I suggest putting her in a cage in the garage. Cover the cage up and give her food and water. Depending on your hen, it usually takes about three to six days to break broodiness.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

make sure the cage is elevated so cool air can reach her bottom. That's what breaks the broodiness. Cool enough abdomen and they're broken in 2 days - if done so early enough.

 

[elizabethzw]

I'm new to chickens. Why would you need to break a broody hen?

 

[stinkysneakers]

I'm told that a broody hen won't give up her broodiness and start laying again until she hatches some eggs. There are various methods that people have used to "snap her out of it" so to speak, that is -- convincing her that her eggs are gone or dead. Some suggest putting her in a tub of cool water, or removing all her nesting material, or repeatedly removing her from the nest, even isolating her with a rooster for a couple of days.

 

[stinkysneakers]

Thank you, folks! I'm getting her some eggs this weekend. I'm so excited about my first chicks!

 

[donrae]

I'm new to chickens. Why would you need to break a broody hen?

I treat my broodies as queens, but....not everyone wants/needs/has room for baby chicks. That's a big thing right there, lots of folks with small flocks, limits on how many birds they can keep, and coop space is usually at a premium. Plus, a hen who is broody isn't laying eggs, and if you depend on those eggs, that can be a hardship.

Broodies can be broken by the cage method. Seems if you start earlier, it's easier to break them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My test as to whether she deserves eggs or not is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of roosting in her favorite spot. She certainly looks broody and I think you will find her on the nest after dark. I have had some hens spend one night on the nest and then not go back. Hens going broody depends on hormones and sometimes those hormone don’t fully kick in, but I’ve never had a problem with a hen that has spent two consecutive nights on the nest.

If you hatch chicks you will probably get some roosters. Do you have a plan for them?

It looks like you have more chickens, not just the one. Other hens often like to lay in the nest with a broody and most broodies will let them. When you get the fertile eggs, mark them so you can tell which ones belong. I use a black Sharpie and make two circles, one the long way and one the short way so I can tell at a glance which ones belong. Then, you need to check under her each day after the other hens have laid and remove any eggs that don’t belong. As long as you collect them every day, you can still eat them. Your eggs are not fertile so you don’t need to worry about them developing, but if too many eggs build up under her so she can’t cover them all, some of her fertile eggs can cool off and die.

If she is truly broody, you can remove her and set her on the ground when you check for new eggs. She will probably sit there for a minute or two, but she should soon either hop back on the nest or leave to eat, drink, take a dust bath, or poop. When she finishes that, she will return to the nest.

A hen stores up a lot of fat, especially in the vent area. She’ll mostly live on that fat while she is broody, so she doesn’t need to eat and drink a lot. A broody hen can lose a lot of weight while broody, but it’s just fat stored for that purpose. Don’t freak out if she starts looking skinny.

She can be pretty secretive about leaving the nest too. Her instinct is to try to hide the nest. You may never see her off the nest, but she should get off once or twice a day. In really hot weather I’ve seen a hen leave the nest twice a day and stay off over an hour each time. In colder weather she may come off once a day for only 15 minutes or so.

They also hold their poop until they go off the nest to eat and drink. You’ll probably find a huge stinky poop from when she comes off the nest. Don’t let that worry you if you see it. It’s perfectly normal.

That’s about it. Good luck and congratulations.