Is my hen still broody?

[ChickenTater]

I just recently broke my brown leghorn hen from her broodiness, but now she seems very distant and not as friendly as she used to be. :c She hasn't started laying again and she hasn't given any interest in the nesting boxes at all really. But she's eating, drinking, and running with my other hens normally. Is this common, or is she still being broody?

I don't know if this is important or not, but my hens are all 6 months old and my brown leghorn in question, Becky, was the first to start laying about a month and a half ago. All of my other hens are also laying, but not regularly. Becky was giving me 1 egg a day before she became broody, and now nothing at all.

 

[FarmsteadSmith]

I just recently broke my brown leghorn hen from her broodiness, but now she seems very distant and not as friendly as she used to be. :c She hasn't started laying again and she hasn't given any interest in the nesting boxes at all really. But she's eating, drinking, and running with my other hens normally. Is this common, or is she still being broody?

I don't know if this is important or not, but my hens are all 6 months old and my brown leghorn in question, Becky, was the first to start laying about a month and a half ago. All of my other hens are also laying, but not regularly. Becky was giving me 1 egg a day before she became broody, and now nothing at all.

If she was still broody she'd be in the nesting boxes and sitting. I am sure it will take some time before she's laying again. How long has she been "broken" of broodiness?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So cool to hear about a broody leghorn!

It usually takes my broody hens a good 2 weeks to start laying again even during summer. Since laying hormones are light driven might take longer entering fall... or not because EVERY time is different. Also they are often less friendly for a little while there after being broody. My daughter and I have recently discussed exactly that.

Laying can be a little sporadic in the beginning as the reproductive system is still maturing and working it's kinks out. Sometimes you even get soft eggs which have nothing to do with calcium. As long as they have enough oyster shell available and a balanced feed that isn't being diminished by too many treats than you shouldn't have too much to worry about. Keep an eye out for hidden nests if you have a sudden unexplained drop in production. Weather, predator presence, breed, internal and external parasites, change to routine... all kinds of things can effect laying. But early on it can be hard to tell what the norm is supposed to be. So far my Easter eggers are my most sporadic layers of all, and most likely to hide their nests as well. Little buggers!

So seems fairly normal to me.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I just recently broke my brown leghorn hen from her broodiness....

Brown Leghorns are non-sitters. Therefore I don't think that she was ever broody or else she is not a pure Leghorn. Where or how did you come by this hen?

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/single_comb_brown_leghorns.html

Read about the non-broody nature of brown Leghorn hens.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I wondered the same thing...Brown Leghorn generally do not go broody (though it *could* happen).

What color eggs does she lay? What color are her earlobes? (I'm wondering if she is a mix or even possibly a Welsummer...Welsummer do go broody).

And what was her brooding behavior? Some illnesses mimic brooding because the hen lingers in the nest, but it is just because she doesn't feel up to interacting with the flock.

Was she puffing and hissing at others while staying on the nest 24/7? Was she rolling eggs underneath her?

My brooding hens take a few days to get back to the flock as they have to reintegrate, so it is not unusual to see her on the outskirts. She has to rework her way into the pecking order.

It wouldn't hurt to dust her with some poultry dust for external parasites and give a deworming. Broody hens do not have proper hygiene (regular dusting) so are very vulnerable to parasite build up.

If she was truly broody, and fully healthy, then she should rework herself back into the flock within a week, two at the most.

LofMc

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Brown Leghorns are non-sitters. Therefore I don't think that she was ever broody or else she is not a pure Leghorn. Where or how did you come by this hen?

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/single_comb_brown_leghorns.html

Read about the non-broody nature of brown Leghorn hens.

I've seen WAY too many things happen, no matter it being NOT the norm... especially when it comes to chickens!

A supposedly NON broody red sex link just sat on and hatched out a clutch of healthy barnyard mix chicks with one of my roos at someone else's house.

Agreed it's a fair question... and I did wonder myself... but celebrated instead!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I've seen WAY too many things happen, no matter it being NOT the norm... especially when it comes to chickens!

A supposedly NON broody red sex link just sat on and hatched out a clutch of healthy barnyard mix chicks with one of my roos at someone else's house.

Agreed it's a fair question... and I did wonder myself... but celebrated instead!

Yes...just as soon as you make a rule, a chicken will break it
LofMc

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The only rule I know of that hasn't been broken yet...

Roosters don't lay eggs!

 

[ChickenTater]

I wondered the same thing...Brown Leghorn generally do not go broody (though it *could* happen).

What color eggs does she lay? What color are her earlobes? (I'm wondering if she is a mix or even possibly a Welsummer...Welsummer do go broody).

And what was her brooding behavior? Some illnesses mimic brooding because the hen lingers in the nest, but it is just because she doesn't feel up to interacting with the flock.

Was she puffing and hissing at others while staying on the nest 24/7? Was she rolling eggs underneath her?

My brooding hens take a few days to get back to the flock as they have to reintegrate, so it is not unusual to see her on the outskirts. She has to rework her way into the pecking order.

It wouldn't hurt to dust her with some poultry dust for external parasites and give a deworming. Broody hens do not have proper hygiene (regular dusting) so are very vulnerable to parasite build up.

If she was truly broody, and fully healthy, then she should rework herself back into the flock within a week, two at the most.

LofMc

I bought them from my local feed store. She looks exactly like the brown leghorns I see in pictures on google:

This is her when she started going broody (there's a filter on the image, so if it looks oddly blue, that's why!) about a month ago. She would hiss and puff up when I or my other hens came near. She often stole the fake egg that you can see in the other box beside her.

Becky the leghorn on the left and Bertha my black sex-link on the right. This was taken a few days ago. I sprinkle DE in their dust baths, coop, and food monthly. I guess she's just being snooty lol

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yup...that looks to be a Brown Leghorn with a nice large white egg.
...and yes commercial lines can go broody, but it doesn't happen very often. (Funny thing is...I've had Black Sex Links go broody...3 of the 5 hens I've had of them...never any of my Leghorns though...my breeder quality Marans, I can't get off the nest.)

She should be integrating in a week or so. It takes them a bit to come out of the broody daze and to re-work back into the flock.

Personally, I wouldn't put much faith in the DE, especially internally, but do regular checks to see how parasites are going especially after a brood where they can build up rather quickly.

Pretty girls.

LofMc