Signs of broodiness? Or just egg laying?

[cmlew99]

Hello! My buff brahma (from a hatchery) has been laying eggs for a month or two now, and I've noticed that she has been pulling out her chest feathers and lining the nest box with them. Is this a sign of broodiness? Or just routine egg laying behavior?

She is still active and everything, isn't aggressive, etc...

Also, is it likely that she will ever be broody? Or does being from a hatchery make a difference in that? The My Pet Chicken website said that they were prone to broodiness, but I don't know if they were just saying that or not.

 

[chooks4life]

Hello! My buff brahma (from a hatchery) has been laying eggs for a month or two now, and I've noticed that she has been pulling out her chest feathers and lining the nest box with them. Is this a sign of broodiness? Or just routine egg laying behavior?

Also, while it's still a bit of folklore that's commonly and widely believed, they do not actually pull their breast feathers out. The physiological state they go into, due to the heightened levels of 'broody hormones', causes them to lose the feathers, it's a process like moulting.

I've seen hens with broody physical states (but non broody mindsets) just walk around dropping breast feathers without touching themselves. They tend to drop more on the nest area due to hormonal processes triggered while laying eggs, but some hens drop while on the perch at night or strolling around the yard, or when the wind gets up.

She is still active and everything, isn't aggressive, etc...

You get hens that brood for a few days then stop, hens that brood perfectly then kill all chicks that hatch, hens that look after chicks great for a few hours or days then abandon them without warning, hens that keep brooding and cannot physically stop (you have to kill them eventually or they kill themselves) because the hormones don't cut off and they run themselves into the ground physically, getting wretchedly weak... Hens that simply leave hatched and hatching eggs to find a new clutch to brood, hens that don't 'talk' to their babies enough or at all so the babies are at exacerbated risk of everything from not learning where warmth is, not learning how to follow or which chook to follow, not learning to eat or drink, getting lost if free ranged, etc. The variety of ways in which a hen can fail to mother are many.

If she doesn't vocally communicate with them, you can try 'riling her up' a bit, i.e. pat her if she responds in an annoyed/defensive manner (short of charging off the nest to attack you, I recommend taking chicks off that type of mother too as they often trample them in their aggressive zeal), the idea is just getting her to respond vocally so the chicks can bond to her voice and hopefully kick start some instinct in her to respond to them. With some hens, vocalizations are sort of a vague afterthought and it's a liability that makes them poor mothers.

('Roughing her up' is actually very mild and gentle, stuff like stroking her back and moving her a little, gently pushing her a bit like you're going to shift her off the nest but not actually doing so, so she sits tighter on the nest and tries to protect the eggs more, if she was showing only loose interest in them in the first place). Basically suggesting you might separate her and her nest. Depends on how much the hen trusts you, you don't want her to feel this is an attack, just a mild annoyance.

Might sound weird but I've found these tricks very helpful with many hens now.

Since they take their breed read-ups from the general info on the breed it has nothing to do with their 'products' and does not reliably represent them. No guarantees, you will only know the answer to this once you've let this hen brood and watched her to see if she can mother as well. Many hens can brood, not so many are reliable mothers.

Good luck with her and your other chooks.

Best wishes.

 

[cmlew99]

Wow, thank you so much!! That was extremely helpful! I was struggling to find information on broody mothers, but couldn't find much at all, so this is good stuff to know

 

[chooks4life]

You're welcome, good luck with your chooks.

Best wishes.