What is "Broody"?

[gnmrk2000]

I feel like such a dope asking this question

I have 1 male and 2 female Pekins and have been a member here since last year. I have seen the term "broody" plenty of times so obviously I know it has to do with the females sitting on their eggs. Can someone give me a really good, simple explanation of this term? How will I know if my females are broody? They lay eggs all the time wherever they d%*^ well please! How long does this "broody-ness" last? Is it possible to never be broody? Also, the girls have been laying since November here in NJ and I am wondering when it would be worth it to try to incubate some of the eggs. I have read that the drakes do not fertilize in the winter.........Are you now gonna tell me that the drakes fertilize when the girls get (or are) broody?

. Im just so confused!

 

[poultry09]

"Broody" means for a duck to sit on eggs, it normally takes around 27 days give or take a day, you will know if your hens go broody as they will sit on the nest for days and the nest will be covered in feathers. Nest will usualy have 5-15 eggs but not all will alwase hatch. Pekins are not a breed of duck that goes broody very often but somethimes they do, I had one pekin hen that went broody for about a week then she quit and the eggs went bad, so it just depends on the duck and thier environment

 

[Ilovemyduckies]

When a duck goes broody, this is when it sits on it's eggs. Not all chickens will go broody. Whether they will lay on there eggs or not usually depends of the breed. they are some breed that have a tendency towards "broodiness." Although there has been a lot of breeds that did have a tendency towards broodiness, that did not go broody, and there has been times when one that does not generally go broody did. For example, A pekin duck does not usually go broody, but I had one of my pekin ducks hatch 8 ducklings last year. So basically, the term "broody" means to lay on (and usually hatch) there eggs. You will not now that they will go broody until they actually do start to lay on them. Although, it is not broody until it does/tries to lay on the egg for the whole incubation time, if that makes any sense.

 

[gnmrk2000]

Ok. I think I get it now! So IF one of my Pekins turn broody, can I expect her to spend more time on the eggs than in the pond and free ranging with the others?

 

[gryeyes]

She will spend ALL of her time, except for a couple of short breaks to eat and drink and poop, then get back on the nest. If she's not doing that, she's not broody.

Ducks, like the majority of chickens, simply lay eggs and walk away. "Whoops! Something fell out of my butt! Whoa. How odd. Oh well, time to go for a swim."

Sometimes they have enough sense to lay them in a nest, but still don't go broody. "This seems like a nice place to put these things that keep falling out of my butt..."

When they go broody, it's much more like, "Stay away. This is my nest. These are my eggs. I'm not leaving them. Go away."

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

She will spend ALL of her time, except for a couple of short breaks to eat and drink and poop, then get back on the nest. If she's not doing that, she's not broody.

Ducks, like the majority of chickens, simply lay eggs and walk away. "Whoops! Something fell out of my butt! Whoa. How odd. Oh well, time to go for a swim."

Sometimes they have enough sense to lay them in a nest, but still don't go broody. "This seems like a nice place to put these things that keep falling out of my butt..."

When they go broody, it's much more like, "Stay away. This is my nest. These are my eggs. I'm not leaving them. Go away."

 

[gnmrk2000]

WOW! You are a riot! NOW I totally get it! Are you in Somerset, as in NJ????????

 

[gryeyes]

WOW! You are a riot! NOW I totally get it! Are you in Somerset, as in NJ????????

No, Somerset in California, in the Western Sierra foothills.