When does one know...?

[chickencoop57]

Ok, so when do you know when a hen is ready to sit on the eggs, to hatch them. Theyre about a year or so old. They lay theyre eggs and I pick them up at the end of the day but never saw one interested in sitting on the nest. Is theyre some tell, tell sign that lets you know? Long ago when I helped my uncle on his farm, we mostly incubated eggs when we wanted more chicks, which was pretty interesting in its self. Thinking about buying an incubator but would be nice to have them hatch naturally.

 

[HappyClucker7]

You have to wait until the hen is broody. She will pull out the feathers under her stomach, she'll sit in the nest box and refuse to come out, and you'll start seeing massive droppings in the run. Once the chicken has gone broody, you can slip the eggs under her.

 

[chickencoop57]

You have to wait until the hen is broody. She will pull out the feathers under her stomach, she'll sit in the nest box and refuse to come out, and you'll start seeing massive droppings in the run. Once the chicken has gone broody, you can slip the eggs under her.

Thanks, HappyClucker7! I kinda figured as much. Nothing like that, happening right now, so I guess I will buy me that incubator. Thanks again!

 

[HappyClucker7]

No problem! Good luck hatching the eggs!

 

[Cynthia12]

Also..an interesting thing..when you approach the nest, she will fluff all up hunkered down, give you the evil eye, and growle. Oh..you .will..know the growl. . Not all hens act like this, but the majority do. If you have a breed that is know for broodiness, it could happen often throughout her life. It's so fun to have a mama hen and babies. Good luck.

 

[aart]

I guess I will buy me that incubator.

Good idea.
You'll get a broody as soon as you set eggs

These are my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

 

[Cynthia12]

Good idea.
You'll get a broody as soon as you set eggs

These are my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

Yep!

 

[chickencoop57]

Also..an interesting thing..when you approach the nest, she will fluff all up hunkered down, give you the evil eye, and growle. Oh..you .will..know the growl. . Not all hens act like this, but the majority do. If you have a breed that is know for broodiness, it could happen often throughout her life. It's so fun to have a mama hen and babies. Good luck.

I Have 2 Orpingtons, 2 Wyandotte, 2 Barred Rocks, and a Leghorn. It'll be interesting, as you say, to see which one will start theyre broodiness.

 

[HappyClucker7]

One of the orpingtons or barred rocks will probably go broody the first. The other breeds, I don't think, go broody very often, if ever.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here's how I knew my BO Poppy was broody: