Why break broody hen?

[pnwchicklvr]

I have a 6 month old Speckled Sussex that’s gone broody. She took to the nesting box yesterday and hisses when I push her out. I have no roosters and she isn’t sitting on any eggs. I’ve researched on here about breaking her broodiness, but I don’t understand why one cares. What am I missing?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are you missing? Eggs. When a hen is broody she is not laying eggs so she is freeloading. That is important to some people.

In some circumstances a broody hen can disrupt the peace and tranquility of the flock. I don't have that problem but if you only have one nest you can see where a broody hen could cause a problem. I've seen posts on here where a broody is getting bullied. That's hard for me to imagine but with living animals anything is possible.

Before they even start laying a pullet or hen stores excess fat. This is what a broody hen mostly lives on since she spends most of the day on the nest instead of out eating and drinking. How long that excess fat lasts will vary depending on the individual and how much she eats and drinks when off the nest. You'll notice a broody hen loses weight while broody. For the first several weeks that's just that excess fat put on for that purpose, but eventually it goes further than that. Some will break from being broody before they harm themselves but sometimes some don't. It is not that each and every one will remain broody until she harms herself, many won't. Which one is yours? I sure don't know.

 

[pnwchicklvr]

@Ridgerunner Thanks for your response. I didn’t realize they stopped laying while broody. Guess it’s time to break her so she can earn her keep.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have a 6 month old Speckled Sussex that’s gone broody. She took to the nesting box yesterday and hisses when I push her out. I have no roosters and she isn’t sitting on any eggs. I’ve researched on here about breaking her broodiness, but I don’t understand why one cares. What am I missing?

She does not need a rooster to go broody ... take a dog crate or something wire she needs air under her skirts or a cold bath sometimes works

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Undue stress on the bird to allow them to brood if there is no fertile eggs or you don't want chicks. The lack of eggs hurts too. If you notice and start to break them in first day or two they may come back into lay in a week. If let to get deep into brood, three days or more, it takes a good two weeks before they come back into lay.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I break mine by blocking off the nests at night. Has worked every time so far. Takes about a week.

 

[PirateGirl]

My broody stopped laying for one. I let her be broody for a bit in hopes it might sort itself out. Like you, I didn't understand why people went through the trouble of breaking a broody, why not just let hormones run their course? Then there began to be problems. Something changed in her demeanor and it totally disrupted the pecking order and there were daily fights. My previously peaceful flock had peck wounds, I'd find blood on the waterer, there would be feathers about, I'd see hens flying through the air with hackles raised and hear noises I'd never heard. So one broody managed to disrupt the order of things and there was pecking and fighting where there never had been before. Now that she's no longer broody, things have returned to normal as if it never happened.

 

[aart]

I break mine by blocking off the nests at night. Has worked every time so far. Takes about a week.

What do you do to keep them off the nest during the day?

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

What do you do to keep them off the nest during the day?

I generally leave them alone. If I'm down by the coop I'll haul their butts 100 yards back to the house and make them walk back. They usually get distracted by plants, bugs and friends along the way, which disrupts the routine somewhat. Keeping mine off the nest at night so far has done the job.

 

[aart]

I generally leave them alone. If I'm down by the coop I'll haul their butts 100 yards back to the house and make them walk back. They usually get distracted by plants, bugs and friends along the way, which disrupts the routine somewhat. Keeping mine off the nest at night so far has done the job.

Oh, that's right.....thought I'd asked before but didn't remember the response.
That part should be added for others' benefit when you say you just close the nests at night.