Why aren't any of my chickens going broody?

[Klwright1122]

I haven't had a chicken go broody in over 3 yrs. What's wrong? I used to have 3RIR bantams and they hatched me 4 babies. I decided I wanted to get standard chickens, so I gave my friend the 3 hens and a too. Within a month or so she had a dozen eggs and they all hatched. Since 2009, I have buffs, Wyandottes, NH reds, barred rocks, Australorps, red and black stars and not a single chicken has ever gone broody. I surely expected my buffs to...and ideas as to y not?

 

[JakRat]

hmm that is odd. Are conditions good for the to go brody? I read in one of my books how to try to make a girl go brody... but it seemed a bit mean. Maybe you can get some silkies... apparently you cant stop them from going brody.

 

[JakRat]

Oh and I am hoping for my girls to go brody this year too... new flock, different breeds. It will be interesting to see if it happens.

 

[bloom_ss]

Don't know about the Buffs since I haven't read much about them, but the other breeds you listed are usually the least likely to go broody from what I have read (I could be mistaken, but from what information I have read this seems to be the most likely reason for their lack of broodiness). I've heard that Cochins and Silkies are the best broodies. Maybe you could get one or two of those?

 

[JakRat]

Quote:
agree.

Though I think the wyandottes and aussies are SUPPOSED to be good mamas... maybe they just need someone to show them how??? Can you give us how your coop, nest, rooster, and all that is set up?

 

[TrystInn]

You'd have to tell us a bit about your setup - are you providing additional light support during the shorter hours of winter, how's your feed etc. before we could really get into what's going on.

Tell us a bit about your roos -- what's your hen to roo ratio?

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Honestly, it depends on where you get them from. The RIR bantams you had i'm assuming were from a breeder? You don't see many hatcheries selling those. Did you get your others from a hatchery? If so, there's your problem. Hatcheries are geared more towards production, rather than the looks and characteristics (i.e. quantity over quality). Yes, you may get a few that are somewhat nice and go broody sometimes, but don't expect much from them other than more eggs. My first chickens I got from Ideal - 1 Easter Egger, 1 Black Australorp, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Barred Rock, several Sebrights, and several Silkies. They are about 3 years old now. The Silkies are the only ones that ever went broody frequently. My only other one was the Australorp and she set for the first time this summer. None of the others did. So where you get your birds from makes a difference.

 

[Klwright1122]

Quote:
agree.

Though I think the wyandottes and aussies are SUPPOSED to be good mamas... maybe they just need someone to show them how??? Can you give us how your coop, nest, rooster, and all that is set up?

I agree Aussies are considered mommy wannabe's but not the Wyandottes, from what I have read. But I have 2 coops attached to each other that sit inside a very large run. Probably a 60-80' run. THe smaller coop is 8x8 with 8 nesting boxes that sit a foot off a wood floor. Nest boxes are filled w hay. The floor is covered w wood shavings and there is a small roost off in the corner...
The other coop is 8x16, attached to the smaller one, but has a dirt floor...larger roost area and 10 nesting boxes...milk crates filled with hay and some wooden boxes. There are approx 30 hens of the various breeds listed above plus jersey giants. I have too many roosters and plan to send some to freeZer camp soon. The lg amount of roosters came from my march incubator hatch--so I have NOT always had many--I really only had one. I will keep 6 different breed of Roos, but all will b penned separately fm the hens. Right now they are all together. There are (3) 5 gallon wateres and another smaller one. They forage in that penned area all ray eating bugs etc, and hen get layer pellets and scratch corn in the afternoons. I don't keep the feeders filled because I got tired of feeding the rats.
Does that help at all?

 

[AlienChick]

You gotta get some chickens that are prone to go broody (e.g., Silkies, Cochins, etc.).

I have one particular Silkie that keeps going broody about every six months (she's broody now).

I also had a Black Australorp go broody but left the nest after about two weeks.

 

[JakRat]

Quote:
Oh my that is an adorable profile pic!!! What kind of hen is that?