Random Broodiness Question...

[TuesdayChickens]

Hi, I don't have a problem, I am just a little confused about broodiness in hens. I know some hens will have a tendency towards broodiness, but will a broody hen be broody from the start, and remain so as long as she is laying, or could a hen that has not been previously broody randomly become so? I am asking because I would actually like to let a hen raise some chicks someday, but so far none of my hens have shown any interest in setting! I'm just wondering if there's any hope in the future of any of my gals getting a maternal notion... I'd love them just the same either way, but I would like some grandchickies!

My girls (and George, the roo) are almost 8 months old. My hens are 3 Black Stars, 3 Barred Rocks and 1 Silver Laced Wyandotte. I also have 1 Buff Orpington and 3 Americana pullets (about 9 weeks old).

Any info or relevant anecdotes are welcomed!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Er, it's worth noting that plenty of breeds go broody on air and straw, no clutch of eggs needed. We gather eggs pretty much daily here and I've had plenty of hens try to set on nothing.
Otherwise it's good info.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I had an ISA brown/ameraucana mix go broody at about 8mo in the fall.

And it just kind of happens sometimes. While some trend towards broodiness and it's more likely to happen in the spring and with hens not pullets, it's pretty all over the place if/when it happens.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Also sometimes one is enough to make others broody. I have 4 nests at one time going that all hatched within a month of each other

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Do you think the broody would accept the eggs from other laying hens at that point? Just curious..

Yes! This is a pretty normal thing people do, especially with shipped eggs. Sometimes (not always) you can even move a broody hen from their chosen nesting site and give them eggs there. Just slip the eggs you want hatched underneath them at night and wake up to them purring over them like a kitten and trying to bite you to keep you away. I like to let my girls set for about 4 days before I put eggs under them to make sure they're serious about it.

 

[NatJ]

Hi, I don't have a problem, I am just a little confused about broodiness in hens. I know some hens will have a tendency towards broodiness, but will a broody hen be broody from the start, and remain so as long as she is laying, or could a hen that has not been previously broody randomly become so?

A hen is typically broody OR laying, not both.

For a hen that will go broody, she does certain things in a particular order:

first, assemble a clutch of eggs. (Lay an egg every day or so, act like any other normal hen.)

second, sit on those eggs. (Stay on the nest all day and all night, but not lay any eggs. She will tend to get off about once a day to eat, drink, poop a lot, and maybe take a quick dust bath.)

third, keep sitting while the chicks hatch. (They should all hatch within a day or so of each other, because all the eggs started to develop at the same time when the hen started to sit on them.)

fourth, raise the chicks. (Keep them warm, lead them to food and water, protect them from other chickens.)

fifth, decide the chicks are mature enough, so she can go back to acting normal and laying eggs. (I've read of some hens "weaning" the chicks as early as 3 weeks, while others may continue looking after the same chicks for months. The time when the hen starts laying again is also highly variable.)

Not-broody hens just get stuck at the first step, assembling a clutch of eggs, and don't go on to the rest of it.

If you're looking for what breeds go broody--I've seen it with Red Shouldered White Yokohamas from McMurray Hatchery, Cornish Bantams from Ideal Poultry, and Red Jungle Fowl from Ideal Poultry. For each of those breeds, I had 2 or more hens go broody, and in each case it was half or more of the hens I had. I've had other hens go broody too, but not enough to make any guess at rates or percentages.

In general, I think rare breeds are more likely to go broody than common ones, because they have not been as heavily selected for "production" traits (like non-broodiness.)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I've seen one Spangled and two White Laced Red ones go broody, and that was all the ones I I kept to laying age. I think the White Laced Red I had given to a friend went broody too.

I didn't have any fertile eggs, so no idea how they would do raising chicks, but they each sat for at least 3 weeks before I broke them.

About 20 years ago I had a Dark Cornish Bantam from a different hatchery that went broody, one of the very few broodies I had at that time, so I was rather expecting it when I got the ones from Ideal more recently

(I like Cornish Bantams. They're like cute little balls, but very solid balls instead of fluffy like some other chickens.)

Yes, yes, yes! I was always told that Cornish would never bother to even consider it. I'm so excited there's a chance!!

 

[aart]

Here's all my broody notes:

My go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

​

I like to move them to set and hatch:
When I have a broody and want her to hatch I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day. Best to move them at night after dark.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

I remove barrier about one week after hatch. The chicks are usually safe it's the broody who has to 'fight' her way back into the pecking order...which can be quick or take a few days.

Lots of space helps for re-integration.


Do you really want more birds?
You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.

Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?

Do you have the space needed? Both for more chickens and she may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.

Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?

If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.

It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-hen-thread.496101/



Breaking a broody:
If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.

 

[CluckerFamily]

One of my 7 year old hens has gone broody twice. One of those times, I let her hatch some eggs.
One of my pullets went broody this fall but I slowly broke her of this. I didn't want a pullet hatching eggs.
I have had chickens for 7 years, I have 16 hens/pullets, and these are the only broody experiences I have had.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Hmm, interesting! But a bit discouraging! Seems like i doesn't happen frequently... I didn't know a pullet could go broody!

Sometimes pullets will go broody but they can leave the nest close to hatching day. Some people have an incubator ready just in case.
When my hen went broody, I figured that was a good time. For her, both times she became broody in the spring.