Questions about Broodiness

[cgmccary]

My Bantam OEG has not started laying this season. However, just about every day for about two months, she has sat on the nest, stayed a couple of hours and gotten off cackling like she had laid. There has not been one egg though. Today, it appears she has gone broody and she is on the nest tonight & been there all day. She has hatched & raised several clutches for me over the last few years.

I do not know the age of this hen. This is one I caught in the wild in 2006 & she was full grown then so she is at least 5 years old (and could be much older). She has progressively laid fewer eggs over the last three years as you'd expect as a hen ages, but she laid a fair number of eggs last year. She appears otherwise healthy. I am especially interested in responses from those of you who have had old hens of breeds & individual birds that went broody a lot when they were younger.

My questions are: Can a hen go broody after not laying any eggs? Is this common with older hens? If she is broody, will she be just as dedicated to setting?

 

[slightlyscrambled]

I cant really answer your question but I am interested to know what others have to say as I have an OEGB who is a lot like this.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I don't know the answer either, but I would say it is just plain instinct. A mother is a mother is a mother!

I had two silkie hens and one had a bunch of chicks. They grew for about 3 weeks and then something came and ate the silkie mom. Feathers everywhere and a few chicks missing too. I didn't really know what to do but then the other silkie took over the chicks, just like that. I was so surprised.

The chicks went to her and she mothered them.

 

[Beekissed]

I had an older EE career broody that seldom layed eggs but was constantly broody. Maybe menopause?

Too many hormones, hot flashes, etc. I finally culled her.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

The breeds that have not lost their instinct to brood, will continue to go broody even though they no longer lay eggs. I have a black Cochin that I use JUST to hatch out eggs for me; she "pretends" to lay eggs, and when she goes broody, I stick Silkie eggs under her. She hatches them out and is a wonderful mother.....
Don't know how many years she'll continue to do this, but I'm thankful for every one!

 

[cgmccary]

BCSilkies: The breeds that have not lost their instinct to brood, will continue to go broody even though they no longer lay eggs. I have a black Cochin that I use JUST to hatch out eggs for me; she "pretends" to lay eggs, and when she goes broody, I stick Silkie eggs under her. She hatches them out and is a wonderful mother.....
Don't know how many years she'll continue to do this, but I'm thankful for every one!

Very nice to know. My little OEG hatches anything I put under her and raises them to adulthood safely. her chicks always grow up to be smart, savvy adults. She had one chick loss to a opossum a couple of years ago but when I got out there, she was flogging the opossum for all she was worth. To me, she is a prize, a jewel. I am thankful for my OEG. I had another message from a lady who has a 20 year old hen who still lays, and she said the same thing. Older hens can go broody without laying. She also said they can do things in reverse like go broody, lay eggs afterwards & then go broody again.​