So what exactly makes a hen go broody?

[UrbanPolish]

A lot of the older people I've talked to say the warmer weather makes a hen want to set. I've also heard people say it's a biological thing, when a hen lays so many eggs her body tells her to set. But then I've also read online where people keep certain hens around long past their prime laying years just because they are good broodies.

So does anyone know for sure what actually causes a hen to settle down over her eggs?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Genetics -- some breeds have had their broody instincts selectively bred out of them, esp. the production breeds. Those who haven't are more likely to go broody.

Instincts & hormones

Commands from the Mother Ship orbiting the planet

The voices only they can hear in their heads.

 

[UrbanPolish]

Ok a gotcha. So basically they just do it lol.

 

[EweSheep]

 

[joanie_maine]

Well, all I know is that when my broody hens decide to set, I'm thrilled!

Bantam Cochins are still one of the breeds who will brood eggs.

Sometimes they do it when Spring is coming......in March even with snow in the ground here...and then whenever they feel like it into the warm days with more daylight.

I have hens who decided to brood a few weeks ago...now it's July 5th and they are still at it!

Somehow, with all the incubator chicks I'm growing from my May hatch, I wish they would STOP!!!!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Well, you got two out of four right -- won't say which two --

Seriously, I do wonder whether warming weather triggers the hormonal change, especially for you guys who actually have winters. Would make sense, I'd think.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

That's a good question, I wonder if anyone's kept statistics to see if more hens go broody, or if hens go broody more often, during the warmer months. If they have any natural instincts left in their long-domesticated minds, they'd see the sense in brooding in the spring/summer so their chicks would be warm & then fully feathered by the fall. Maybe the warm weather and the longer daylight hours does inspire them to go broody.