Managing/Encouraging broody hens with a "Broody Box" ***Hatching Pics!

[Winsor Woods]

I've always wondered what types of things could be done to encourage a hen to be broody. Broodiness has been bred out of most hatchery varieties but not fully. I have yet to have a hen go totally broody but I have some that linger in the nest boxes for up to 4-5 hours after laying. Despite this, the hens have always left the nest boxes to go roost in the rafters at nighttime. After putting the word out there that I wanted information on encouraging some broodiness, I was finally directed to the following article:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

I was so enthused by this article that I built a broody box as described.

I didn't have any fake eggs so I just used real ones but I will switch them out with the incubation clutch tomorrow night.

Three days ago, I set my hen, "Dottie," on the nest in the broody box. I did this at night. I awoke the next morning to a cacophony of alarm calls and general displeasure. The article forewarned me on this so I stuck to my guns and by the end of the day Dottie had settled down on the nest. Yesterday and today she's been holding her "poop" in and only evacuating once or twice a day. (a good sign for broodiness) Here are some pictures of the "Broody Box." I'll make sure to update you guys on my progress. She's a first year hen and was hatched last June, so I expect her to have a learning curve as we both explore this together.

Broody Box with the lid and door open (The doorway doubles as a ramp):

Broody Box closed up with a view of all the windows:

"Dottie" sitting on her eggs after day 2 in the broody box:

Dan

 

[suzettex5]

Will be interesting to watch how this developes. I suppose if there is nothing else for the hen to do, it will just sit in the box or on the nest. I do wonder if forced confinement will cause the mommy hormones to kick in, or just cause stress? Keep us posted.

Funny thing, I never try to get a hen broody, my first was a Marans, and now her daughter is broody. I think its cool. Keep us posted!

 

[cpbirds407]

Hi there-

I strongly believe that for any hen to go broody, their needs must be met. In captivity, we are forcing them to lay if we use artificial lights and many times the lights that we use are not the correct type of lighting. They need the UV rays from the sun, the length of daylight, the environment must be simulated to their liking, like you stated, the nest box will definitely help to make the hen feel secured and obviously nutrition is very important.

So once we take all of these factors into consideration and make the necessary corrections, the hen will go broody. Just my opinion.

 

[Winsor Woods]

I had to abort this session in the broody box. My hen was cannibalizing the eggs. I suppose that's another reason to not use real eggs during the acclimation. I supposed I would have just found this out after I swapped out the fake eggs for the real eggs. Anyways, she's back free-ranging with the rest of the flock and I'll watch for any signs of broodiness from any of my hens and I'll be set to go with the broody box. I'll make sure to update this thread when and if those signs appear. Until then, I think I'll be trying to make an incubator

Dan

 

[elmo]

Mine didn't go broody until there were enough eggs accumulated in the nest to make a good size clutch, in the case of my bantams around 8 or 9 eggs. All three of them: the third hen took longer to accumulate that many because her two other flockmates were setting and not laying any more eggs to add.

It makes sense, because this is how it would go in nature. This also explains why a hen likes to lay in a nestbox that already has an egg in it.

p.s.: forgot to mention: I got my hens to go broody simply by not collecting eggs daily as I usually do.

 

[crazyhen]

a hen will go broodie when she is good and ready. They are at the pity of their hormones. Some kinds have it breed out so if you want a broodie get a type that will brood. Orpingtons, silkies etc. love to brood for you. Gloria Jean

 

[loopy12]

Its contagious too, or simply the conditions favoring broodiness will affect several hens at once...last year my buff orpington started the craze, followed by a black australorp, then the SLW (who did it in the bushes and after a few days was never seen again), then the GLWs started too...ended up with more broodies than laying hens

A few warmer, longer days (like now) and bam they go broody...like buses...wait for hours then half a dozen come at once.
My BO has just gone broody the last few days, so am anticipating a gradual slide into being a maternity ward. Last year I lent a few out to people with good results - hatched chicks for others then cae home two months later and reintegrated into the flock no problems.

 

[flakey chick]

I appreciate you posting your experience with this article's procedure. I found her info on grafting chicks useful the first time my hen went broody. She went broody a LOT that year. This year when she started showing the early warning signs, I ordered some eggs for her. Now she's not quite so interested. When I gave her the 6 six eggs, she sat and broody sqwaked, but then she went to roost at night. Thanks to Elmo's info, I will add a few of her own eggs. I have 6 fake eggs- but she's too smart for that. From when she first started laying, she recognized them as dudds and kicked them out of nest.

 

[elmo]

This is my first experience with broody hens, so I spent a lot of time out in my yard watching their behavior. This spring our hens started doing what I call "hissy fits" around each other and with us: puffing up their feathers and shrieking. I recognized this as symptomatic of broodiness, so I started letting the eggs pile up instead of collecting them.

When a good size number of eggs built up in the nest, the highest ranking hen decided to start sitting on them. She spent most of the day on the eggs, but then came off in the evening and roosted with her flockmates at night. The next day, though, she went back to sitting and stayed on the nest that night. She's been glued in there now for two weeks, only coming off for brief periods to eat, drink and poop (oh, what poops! The smell reminds me of horse manure). And dust bathe! They love to dust bathe when they come off the nest. I guess it's nature's way of dealing with the possibility that mites could infest the nesting site. Fortunately, I had cleaned out the nest boxes and put in fresh shavings and a layer of DE just before the hens started setting, so I'm not too worried that there are any mites in there now.

The other two hens followed this pattern, too. Setting during the day, off that first night, then settling down to business the nest day. They are about a week behind the first hen's schedule.

 

[Winsor Woods]

This is all great info. I'll be keeping an eye open for more signs. I'll also let some eggs pile up in the boxes. If anything happens, I'll update this thread. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Dan