Kathy

[2016chickens]

Can I get one of my hens start to brood or do I wait for nature to take its course?

 

[Teila]

Howdy Kathy

Broodiness is hormone based so, technically, you can not make a hen go broody. Some breeds never go broody and others are renown for their broodiness.

Some people say that leaving eggs in the nest might encourage them to brood but you would still need to have a hen prone to going broody.

 

[Pork Pie]

Can I get one of my hens start to brood or do I wait for nature to take its course?

What breeds of chickens do you have?

 

[drumstick diva]

Some breeds of chicken and very likely to go "broody,". silkies, Buff Orpingtons , Cochins - they also tend to be very docile breeds. It doesn't mean every female will go broody but they have a high incidence.

You cannot make a hen go broody on command but, when they do start - take advantage.

 

[drumstick diva]

PS you also need a rooster or their eggs will not be fertile.

 

[2016chickens]

Rhode Island Red Bantam, Buff Orphington, Silkie, 2 Easter Eggs, Plymouth & (this will be spelled wrong) Antrocandia.

 

[debid]

If you want to tempt them, get some plastic Easter eggs (color unimportant) and put them in a cluster in the nest you'd like a brooding hen to use. I put rocks inside for weight and taped them shut when I made my dummy eggs. If one takes the bait and sits all day and night, swap the fakes for hatching eggs. Be sure to mark your hatching eggs as chickens may lay in the broody hen's nest while she's eating/drinking.

Also, the PP who said that it's hormonal and not all will go broody is absolutely correct. I have a hen that will sit all night on any egg left at dusk and she's a Marans from a breeder. You'd think she'd go broody but she never has. She does a fine job keeping any winter afternoon eggs from freezing for me, though! I also have one that will gather eggs from the different boxes and put them together into one nest. You'd think she'd sit on them after all that trouble but nope! She's an EE, never has been broody.