went broody...

[ehatch]

I was just going to ask if there's anyway you can set off a hen into broody mode: I think I inadvertantly did it! I just adopted 3 new hens today & my biggest orpington hen is already growling, making different clucking noises...and not budging out of the "favorite" nest box.

Maybe she was going to do this anyways....but I think it's territorial & competitively based.

Any other ways to provoke this behavior/state?

 

[Southernbelle]

Usually I'd say no - it's completely hormonal.

But, I just read a neat article in Backyard Poultry where Mark Rosen said having a full nest of dummy eggs then sharply decreasing the protein by offering a grain only diet will do it for him, if not using a lamp to add an extra hour of daylight. I should mention he maintains a flock of birds to use strictly as broodies, so he picked a very broody breed to begin with (oegb). I don't know if it would work with a standard hen, but I thought it was interesting.

Yours may just be feeling the stress from moving - under those circumstances, I wouldn't count on her going the distance until she's all settled in. Time will tell!

 

[ehatch]

You are so right! Guess it was just a good show: letting the new girls know who's boss.

 

[92caddy]

Yes you can make a hen go broody, I have done it many times. Some times it works, some times it dont, but most of the time it does. Some hens take longer then others. It may take 1 or 2 days or a week or more, it all depends on the hen. I take the hen and place her in a box, just big enough for her sit in a nest. I put fake eggs under her. The box has to be kept as dark as possible. You let her out once a day to drink, eat and poo, then put her back in the box. You keep doing this til she goes broody. As I said before, alot depends on the hen how long it takes for her to go broody. Good luck..................ed

 

[cwc362]

Quote:
I gonna have to try this- I'm ready for a broody and they are not cooperating. Either that or shoot em up with estogen. -LOL

 

[cmom]

When I finally put my pullets with my hens in the same coop, one of my hens would get into a nest box and lay in it for awhile. If she saw a pullet in it she would stand outside of it and scream and growl until the pullet would finally get out. She would then go lay in the nest box for awhile and then get back out. I do believe she was just showing her dominance.