Topic of the Week - Broody hens

[The Duck Ladie]

Haha, I have to comment on the second question about breaking a broody.

My white Orpington, Vidalia, decided to go broody a few days before my toddler niece and nephew came for a visit. They were thrilled with the chickens and had a grand time picking them up and carrying them around. (My chickens are very tame and many times would 'squat' for the kiddos and let themselves be picked up.) The toddlers found Vidalia to be great fun. A chicken that just sat there, waiting to be picked up! They'd carry her around and set her down somewhere, she'd head back to the nest. Typical toddlers, they thought this was a great game. Vidalia finally got tired of it and decided being broody wasn't worth it. So if you have a chicken good-natured enough not to peck a child, having a toddler repeatedly haul her off the nest will break her of being broody!

 

[buff goose guy]

I have a question, how do I make a chicken broody this summer when I had eggs ready to go the chicken just wouldn't sit on her eggs.

 

[NanaKat]

I have a question, how do I make a chicken broody this summer when I had eggs ready to go the chicken just wouldn't sit on her eggs.

Only a few hens will go broody when they see a clutch of eggs. The ones I can depend on are either my old Cochin or older seasoned Wyandotte mothers. I even have a 6 year old Australorp hen who doesn't like to brood eggs, but will steal hatched chicks from their mother so she can raise them or will take orphans/incubator hatched chicks to raise.

Normally you have to wait for a hen to go broody and then give her eggs you have collected for her to brood. The freshest fertile eggs you can get will have the best chance to hatch. Give her a fake egg or golf ball to sit on for the few days it takes to gather her a clutch of eggs. Make sure you turn the eggs daily that you are collecting for her until you slip them under her. She will take it from there..

 

[buff goose guy]

Yeah my Cochin is only a year which is what I expected to be the reason. Thank you !

 

[ElNidoEggs]

Al good info here!
The only thing I would change it to leave the eggshells in he next area. Plenty of calcium and other nutrients for the little one, and for the hen to pick at use the vitimins.

 

[Rocky64]

I have a silkie named Silks( creative huh lol) that goes broody 2-3 times a year, and she went broody again a month ago so I put some eggs under her to hatch. Unfortunately none of them hatched, but coincidentally I got two peachicks yesterday that are young and need heating still and so I put the two with her to see if she'd accept them( she accepted 4 three week old silkies earlier in the year, plus the 4 she hatched, so she had 8 bigger chicks stuffed under her lol) and she took them in just like she did with the silkies before and the peachicks took a liking to her too. They try to go fully underneath her, but they can only go about 75% of the way under because of the size comparison between Silks and them. She's by far the best momma chicken I've ever had and I look forward to many years of her hatching eggs.

I just noticed that this is an informative thread and not to just tell a story about a broody. I should've actually read more detail into the opening lol. Sorry about that

 

[SoldierSailor]

After sitting on 2 fertile creme legbar eggs for a month to no avail, I got two chicks and put them under "Dottie"
2 days later she out in the run with the babies.

Strangest thing. She was in with 2 other silkies. Clair our oldest who has not laid eggs in a couple month, would snuggle
up to dottie while she was on the nest. I mean RIGHT next to her in the nest..

 

[RezChamp]

I have a question, how do I make a chicken broody this summer when I had eggs ready to go the chicken just wouldn't sit on her eggs.

Depends on breed.
White Leghorns are probably the least broody of all breeds/sub-species/sub-breeds.
Many of the Mediterranean(white egg laying) breeds are rather non-broody.
Cochins and Silkies are usually very good broodies as are Plymouth Rock Partridge. That's one reason I like to keep a few of each of these breeds.
Short-cuts to "information highway" can usually be found here on BYC
Good luck

 

[buff goose guy]

Yeah my Cochin is only a year which is what I expected to be the reason. Thank you !

 

[amynrichie]

I have a question, how do I make a chicken broody this summer when I had eggs ready to go the chicken just wouldn't sit on her eggs.

You can't MAKE a chicken go broody. YOU have to wait until SHE is ready. You may end up with your Cochin going broody, may not.
The only thing we can do with broody hens is wait and watch. It would be nice if my broody would cooperate with my schedule!