RIR broody?

[TheSpeckledRoo]

Does anyone have a RIR that is especially broody? One of my girls, scarlet, is broody more often than my Buff Opringtons. What is your most broody hen/breed?

 

[gryeyes]

I have one RIR in my mixed flock of 50-ish chickens (plus 2 geese, 3 turkeys and a slew of ducks). Rhoda is a hatchery bird and three years old... She suddenly went broody for the first time this past summer. I was extremely surprised, because I know RIRs (especially hatchery RIRs) are NOT prone to broodiness.

She hatched a single chick and was such a good momma I hope she goes broody again.

My broodiest hens are a standard black Cochin and a bantam mixed breed with some brahma in her.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

I have one RIR in my mixed flock of 50-ish chickens (plus 2 geese, 3 turkeys and a slew of ducks). Rhoda is a hatchery bird and three years old... She suddenly went broody for the first time this past summer. I was extremely surprised, because I know RIRs (especially hatchery RIRs) are NOT prone to broodiness.
She hatched a single chick and was such a good momma I hope she goes broody again.
My broodiest hens are a standard black Cochin and a bantam mixed breed with some brahma in her.

Your hen sounds pretty interesting. can you post a pic? My RIR came from a hatchery and is only 9 months old. I guess there are some "oddballs" of every breed haha.

 

[Cknldy]

2 of my rir hens have tried sitting on their eggs but haven't gone full out broody. They came from tractor supply so hatchery chicks. Hilda sat for several days but would frequently come off. Then Lacy decided to eyeball me while spending 1 full day on the nest. It is really cold here so allowing them to keep the eggs until there is a clutch to actually go full broody with wouldn't produce chicks. With windchill factored in it has been 2 and 9 degrees the past few days. No eggs would be viable unless kept warm til ladies decided there were enough to actually brood on. :-(

 

[Cknldy]

Will definitely keep watch for these signs in warmer weather and separate the hen. It would be awesome to prove my neighbors wrong and have a broody rir that produces beautiful chicks!

 

[PaulScott]

Even with a hatchery Bird that's a seldom or non broody type there is always a possibility of a Genetic throw back and getting a broody hen .
in most cases is not a bad thing at all especially if you like it
if this trait is physical like a RIR coming out looking like a Malay ( it happens more then you might think ) etc etc Most hatcheries will cull these and they never see the light of day , ( i wish they would send them all to me ) but they cant see the recessive gene/ trait of the birds ancestors so its bound to happen from time to time .

I once had a hen and rooster that when paired together would produce at least one rose combed hen every time , while paired with any other mate never produced a rose comb

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The very best broody hen I ever had was a MMM hatchery blue-laced red Wyandottes, of all things. She was awesome, and MEAN and literally protected her chicks to the death when, freakishly, an owl broke through the wire into their enclosure one night.

I've had other broodies, of several breeds, but have never again had one stubborn enough and MEAN enough to actually protect the chicks properly once they hatch.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

2 of my rir hens have tried sitting on their eggs but haven't gone full out broody. They came from tractor supply so hatchery chicks. Hilda sat for several days but would frequently come off. Then Lacy decided to eyeball me while spending 1 full day on the nest. It is really cold here so allowing them to keep the eggs until there is a clutch to actually go full broody with wouldn't produce chicks. With windchill factored in it has been 2 and 9 degrees the past few days. No eggs would be viable unless kept warm til ladies decided there were enough to actually brood on. :-(

Luckly in Michigan it has not got that cold yet! I cannot tell how many eggs are underneath her at this time. This is the third day she sat of them. She keeps trying to bite my hand when i try to check, so i decided to let her sit and what happens happens. I am really happy this is the case and i hope she hatches some. I have a few eggs in the incubator that i set the same say. Once my chicks hatch i plan on placing them underneath my broody hen at night. What do you guys think of that? smart idea or no?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Many people have a lot of luck putting just hatched chicks under a broody. just make sure you don't give her too many chicks for her to protect or take care of. You'll have to ask around as far as how many is a good number. I probably wouldn't want a hen to take on more than a dozen total babies.

 

[floridaokiegal]

I had bantam hen that sat on 6 eggs by only hatched one. I felt sorry for the lone chick and noticed that the local farm store had chicks so I bought the little bantam a friend. My hen didn't have any problem taking it at all... It was after dark when I got the new chick home and just put it underneath her with the other one. It was even a standard size chick of the same variety as my bantam. Now that the chick is nearly as big as the hen, it is funny watching that big chick going underneath her momma to keep warm. So, in my case, it worked great.