Should I let my hen be broody?

[FC16]

Strange situation… I have a 24 week old bantam frizzle hen who has only just started laying around a week ago, and she appears to have gone broody.
She’s been on the nest all morning, when I put my hand in to see what she’s sitting on she growled at me (I’ve never seen her do this before), I gave her an egg and she tucked it underneath her.
I wouldn’t mind letting her brood some eggs personally, however I doubt she’d be very good at it.
How many eggs would she be able to fit under her? I’ve posted a picture of her, she’s quite small.
As far as I know she has 3 of her tiny eggs underneath her which I’ve also attached a picture of, and she has two regular brown eggs under her as well. Would she be able to cover these?
She’s not very high in the pecking order of the flock, so should she stay broody over the next couple of days I’d probably get her her own little coop to brood them in.
Probably won’t hatch many if any at all, but what do you guys think?

 

[aart]

when I put my hand in to see what she’s sitting on she growled at me (I’ve never seen her do this before), I gave her an egg and she tucked it underneath her.

Any laying bird may growl when you reach under her in the nest...
....and also will tuck an egg under.

Here are my go to signs that a bird is 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.

​

 

[NatJ]

Strange situation… I have a 24 week old bantam frizzle hen who has only just started laying around a week ago, and she appears to have gone broody.
She’s been on the nest all morning, when I put my hand in to see what she’s sitting on she growled at me (I’ve never seen her do this before), I gave her an egg and she tucked it underneath her.

I have seen hens that looked broody for a few hours, then went back to normal behavior. So I would see if she's on the nest after dark tonight, but not really consider her broody unless she keeps it up for several days and nights.

As for whether she could go broody that soon after starting to lay: I have had some bantam pullets that laid a dozen eggs and then went broody, and others that laid for a month or two before going broody, and others that kept laying and did not go broody at all-- so I think it is possible that she is going broody, but more likely that she is not (yet).

I wouldn’t mind letting her brood some eggs personally, however I doubt she’d be very good at it.

You might be right, or she might surprise you

How many eggs would she be able to fit under her? I’ve posted a picture of her, she’s quite small.

If they all fit without sticking out, they are probably fine.

As far as I know she has 3 of her tiny eggs underneath her which I’ve also attached a picture of, and she has two regular brown eggs under her as well. Would she be able to cover these?

Yes, she probably can cover that many, but you can tell for sure by checking.

I once read a suggestion to add eggs until you see some stick out at the edges, then remove one or two. If you wanted to put the most possible eggs under each hen, that would probably work pretty well for figuring out each hen's capacity.

She’s not very high in the pecking order of the flock, so should she stay broody over the next couple of days I’d probably get her her own little coop to brood them in.
Probably won’t hatch many if any at all, but what do you guys think?

Moving her to a safe place is a good idea, but I've had some hens that quit being broody when I moved them, and others that were fine when moved. You won't know about a particular hen until you try it.

Personally, I would give her a few fake eggs to sit on now, and take all the real ones safely indoors. Once you know she is broody, and have moved her to the right place, you can give the eggs back to her. Or if she turns out to not be broody, you can eat the eggs.

If you have a broody hen sitting in the same coop with other chickens, mark her eggs, and check each day to be sure no others have been added. You want all the eggs to start incubating on the same day, so all the chicks will hatch within a day or two of each other.

You can mark eggs with a pencil or crayon, and I've seen some people say Sharpie marker is fine too. Make the mark big and obvious, so it's easy for you to see.

 

[FC16]

I have seen hens that looked broody for a few hours, then went back to normal behavior. So I would see if she's on the nest after dark tonight, but not really consider her broody unless she keeps it up for several days and nights.

As for whether she could go broody that soon after starting to lay: I have had some bantam pullets that laid a dozen eggs and then went broody, and others that laid for a month or two before going broody, and others that kept laying and did not go broody at all-- so I think it is possible that she is going broody, but more likely that she is not (yet).


You might be right, or she might surprise you

If they all fit without sticking out, they are probably fine.

Yes, she probably can cover that many, but you can tell for sure by checking.

I once read a suggestion to add eggs until you see some stick out at the edges, then remove one or two. If you wanted to put the most possible eggs under each hen, that would probably work pretty well for figuring out each hen's capacity.


Moving her to a safe place is a good idea, but I've had some hens that quit being broody when I moved them, and others that were fine when moved. You won't know about a particular hen until you try it.

Personally, I would give her a few fake eggs to sit on now, and take all the real ones safely indoors. Once you know she is broody, and have moved her to the right place, you can give the eggs back to her. Or if she turns out to not be broody, you can eat the eggs.

If you have a broody hen sitting in the same coop with other chickens, mark her eggs, and check each day to be sure no others have been added. You want all the eggs to start incubating on the same day, so all the chicks will hatch within a day or two of each other.

You can mark eggs with a pencil or crayon, and I've seen some people say Sharpie marker is fine too. Make the mark big and obvious, so it's easy for you to see.

Thankyou, very helpful advice

 

[Acre4Me]

It is recommended to not incubate early eggs. Often, those early eggs are smaller and can restrict chick growth. Usually you want the kinks worked out if their system, and eggs to be of a good size.

Fake eggs for now might be best.


Overall, only let eggs hatch if you have a plan for dealing with the offspring, space etc, and what about all those extra boys?

 

[K0k0shka]

I personally wouldn't let a frizzle sit on eggs. Frizzles have defective feathers (by design... that's the point of this unnatural and unethical breed) that aren't very good at doing what feathers were meant to do - insulate the bird from temperature and moisture. I'm not sure how well she'd be able to keep the eggs warm. If she's small, too, then she wouldn't have a lot of contact area to manage more than 2-3 eggs, if that. And without the insulation of the feathers, she may not be able to maintain the proper temperature. Unless you have some very pressing need and good reason to let this particular hen hatch eggs, I'd say break her (if she's persistent) and use a normal-feathered hen for hatching.

 

[FC16]

I personally wouldn't let a frizzle sit on eggs. Frizzles have defective feathers (by design... that's the point of this unnatural and unethical breed) that aren't very good at doing what feathers were meant to do - insulate the bird from temperature and moisture. I'm not sure how well she'd be able to keep the eggs warm. If she's small, too, then she wouldn't have a lot of contact area to manage more than 2-3 eggs, if that. And without the insulation of the feathers, she may not be able to maintain the proper temperature. Unless you have some very pressing need and good reason to let this particular hen hatch eggs, I'd say break her (if she's persistent) and use a normal-feathered hen for hatching.

I’m going to see if she’s still broody by tomorrow, sometimes I’ve heard they snap out of it sometimes , I might break her to be honest given what you’ve just said about the feathers

 

[K0k0shka]

I’m going to see if she’s still broody by tomorrow, sometimes I’ve heard they snap out of it sometimes , I might break her to be honest given what you’ve just said about the feathers

She may snap out of it, with some help, or she may need an intervention, it varies a lot from one individual to the next. At the very least move her out of the box and onto the roost at night. With some, that's enough. If she goes back into the nest the following day and wants to sleep there again at night, then she may need actual breaking.

 

[FC16]

Update: I did see her come out this morning and thought she might have been broken, however she has now gone back onto the nest, im not too fussed about losing the eggs so I’ll let her do what she likes with them really, she seems to have eaten and drank so all should be ok.
She’s also now pecking me as well as growling

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I personally wouldn't let a frizzle sit on eggs. Frizzles have defective feathers (by design... that's the point of this unnatural and unethical breed) that aren't very good at doing what feathers were meant to do - insulate the bird from temperature and moisture. I'm not sure how well she'd be able to keep the eggs warm. If she's small, too, then she wouldn't have a lot of contact area to manage more than 2-3 eggs, if that. And without the insulation of the feathers, she may not be able to maintain the proper temperature. Unless you have some very pressing need and good reason to let this particular hen hatch eggs, I'd say break her (if she's persistent) and use a normal-feathered hen for hatching.

I had a frizzle hen that sat and hatched eggs just fine (I am not a fan of frizzles, she came from an egg I hatched for someone else and I ended up with her). She was a good and committed sitter, but a pretty useless mother. She was not aggressive but she was forgetful, not very attentive, and left her chicks when they were only 3 weeks old. I rehomed her.

I'm not saying she was like this because of being a frizzle, all hens are their own individual selves. I'm just saying that frizzles don't seem to have any inherent issues with the brooding process.