What causes broodiness?

[jdellosso]

I have two 9-month old cochin hens and no rooster, and have seen so many posts on hens going broody. Will mine do it as well at some point, or is a rooster required? Thanks for answering this clearly "newbie" question!

 

[Cats Critters]

No rooster required for broodiness. Some hens will go broody and some never will just depends on the hen.

 

[Wifezilla]

It's a hormonally triggered thing. Some breeds of ducks and chickens never go broody. Some will go broody over a pile of golf balls.

 

[jdellosso]

Thanks, guess I'll just wait and see if they do it! I'm not looking forward to egg production stopping, but there has been a lot of good advice on how to break them of it. We're happy with two chicks, thank you very much, though my kids would love more...

 

[christa7032]

My hen went broody the second we got rid of our mean rooster. I guess she thought the eggs that were in the box were her last chance for babies with him gone. Unfortunately, she put the idea in the heads of 2 of my other girls! Now everyone is sitting on eggs (real or imagined) and I don't think any of them are fertile.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Increasing day length can effect them. Sometimes things like rain, extra food or more protein can trigger breeding in some species of birds, although I don't know that it makes any difference in chickens. With Chickens, I always though it was the day length that triggered it, more than anythings else. Like molting is triggered by shorter day length in the fall. Their genetics definitely makes a difference. Some have been bred to be less broody. Most of my chickens haven't been very broody, but I got one strain several years ago that has been a lot more broody. Last year they all went broody and one went broody twice!