Will allowing my broody hen to hatch out eggs discourage her from being broody in the future?

[Morrigan]

I'll be curious to hear how long before she goes broody again.

Most of my hens only go broody once a year . . . but I've had a couple of die hards who go twice a year.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

So sweet. Any yes, leave the eggs under her. You want her staying on the nest in "hatch mode" until you can foster the rest of the chicks. You might even do a test today of putting one more chick under her in the daytime and see how she reacts. If she's good, you and put the lot under her and be done with it.

If you decide to wait until tonight, that's fine too, but I would move the water and food close enough so she and her chicks can get too them without leaving the nest.

The reason for this is, that once a hen leads the chicks off the nest in search of food and water, she often (not always, but frequently) will abandon the nest. Once a hen has abandoned the nest, many will refuse to accept any more chicks, no matter how sneaky you are. I know, I've tried.

Beware, leaving food and water close by, she might poop in the nest, which is yucky, but just a manner of cleaning it up once you move her. Usually the chicks stay out of it.

Thank you! Good to know. Maybe I'll try slipping another chick under later. I will move the feed and water closer.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Most of my hens only go broody once a year . . . but I've had a couple of die hards who go twice a year.

After you allow them to raise chicks you mean? Because this is already Ursula's probably 4th or 5th time being broody this year.

 

[Morrigan]

After you allow them to raise chicks you mean? Because this is already Ursula's probably 4th or 5th time being broody this year.

Yes, after allowing them to raise the chicks. Most go broody in the spring/early summer, raise their chicks and go broody around same time next year. I've had two go broody in the spring, raise their chicks, and then go broody later in the summer.

I'm a real softy when it comes to broody hens. Usually I just give them chicks. I've broken a couple when I really didn't need more chicks just by repeatedly moving them off the nest and putting them on the roost bar at night. But if that doesn't work, I just give-in and get her chicks. Slow broiler breeds are a wonderful thing in that regard, as I can almost always use more meat in the freezer.

 

[NatJ]

So sweet. Any yes, leave the eggs under her. You want her staying on the nest in "hatch mode" until you can foster the rest of the chicks. You might even do a test today of putting one more chick under her in the daytime and see how she reacts. If she's good, you and put the lot under her and be done with it.

If you decide to wait until tonight, that's fine too, but I would move the water and food close enough so she and her chicks can get too them without leaving the nest.

The reason for this is, that once a hen leads the chicks off the nest in search of food and water, she often (not always, but frequently) will abandon the nest. Once a hen has abandoned the nest, many will refuse to accept any more chicks, no matter how sneaky you are. I know, I've tried.

This does not match my experience.

I have given chicks to hens, over a several day period, on a number of occasions. I took away all eggs when I gave the first chicks. I added more chicks the second night, and any remaining chicks on the third night. At least once or twice, for hens with a small number of chicks, I added some more newly-hatched chicks about a week later. That was successful sometimes but not always (the younger ones need to warm up more frequently, and cannot run as fast or as far to keep up wtih the hen.)

For me, it worked just fine to put more chicks under her, after she was settled for the night, regardless of whether she had abandoned the nest or not. Chicks of new colors were a problem with some hens but not others. The only recurring issue was whether the new chicks would follow her around and keep up the next day. I would not let a hen out to free range with chicks until they have been with her for several days, so they have gotten the idea that they are supposed to stay close. A relatively small pen means that she cannot get too far away from them. ("Relatively small" meaning anything smaller than about 4 to 6 feet each way. It does not have to be tiny.)

Most of my hens only go broody once a year . . . but I've had a couple of die hards who go twice a year.

I've had hens that go broody much more often than that, and will happily raise 3 or 4 or more batches of chicks in a year.

There is obviously a lot of variation among broody hens!

 

[Morrigan]

This does not match my experience.

I have given chicks to hens, over a several day period, on a number of occasions. I took away all eggs when I gave the first chicks. I added more chicks the second night, and any remaining chicks on the third night. At least once or twice, for hens with a small number of chicks, I added some more newly-hatched chicks about a week later. That was successful sometimes but not always (the younger ones need to warm up more frequently, and cannot run as fast or as far to keep up wtih the hen.)

For me, it worked just fine to put more chicks under her, after she was settled for the night, regardless of whether she had abandoned the nest or not. Chicks of new colors were a problem with some hens but not others. The only recurring issue was whether the new chicks would follow her around and keep up the next day. I would not let a hen out to free range with chicks until they have been with her for several days, so they have gotten the idea that they are supposed to stay close. A relatively small pen means that she cannot get too far away from them. ("Relatively small" meaning anything smaller than about 4 to 6 feet each way. It does not have to be tiny.)


I've had hens that go broody much more often than that, and will happily raise 3 or 4 or more batches of chicks in a year.

There is obviously a lot of variation among broody hens!

Your experience goes to show how every hen is different. I had a situation where a hen hatched some chicks, then led the hatchlings off the nest. One of the abandoned eggs was still viable and it hatched in the incubator a day later. That night I put the chick -- the same color as her -- under her. Since she was sleeping it seemed to go well. The next morning, however, as soon as the chicks emerged from under her, she zero'ed in on the new chick and relentessly drove it away She was an excellent mother with the rest. I tried the next night, this time putting the remains of the hatching shell in with the chick. Same result.

Asking around, I found that others had that same experience -- once a hen is off the nest, any new chicks trying to sneak in are not "hers" and she will not raise them. Since then, I've take pains to make sure all chicks go under within 24 hours of each other. So my default advice is to get the chicks under the hen before she's off the nest. It may not always be the case, but it is such a pain to be left with half the chicks under a broody, and rest being raised by you in the brooder box.

However, I can well believe that it might be a different experience with different hens. I had one old orpington mix who loved, loved having chicks. If there was another broody in the coop at the same time as her, she would try to steal the chicks. I imagine she would have accept chicks over the course of a month, lol.

 

[Morrigan]

I've had hens that go broody much more often than that, and will happily raise 3 or 4 or more batches of chicks in a year.

Yikes! What breed of chickens, were these?

 

[NatJ]

Yikes! What breed of chickens, were these?

Old English Game Bantams, a Japanese bantam, and I think some mixes that included the Old English Game.

Several of them has a pattern like what I would expect from a wild bird: lay about 2 dozen eggs, go broody, raise chicks if she is allowed to, lay another 2 dozen eggs, go broody again... repeated all year long, except when molting or taking time off during the winter.

They are very frustrating if you want eggs to eat, but wonderful if you want to hatch chicks. Each time you start getting little bantam eggs, start collecting the eggs you want to have her hatch (her eggs or someone else's.)

Of course not every hen of those breeds will do that, but I definitely had some that did. When people talk about Silkies being "very broody," I snicker to myself that Silkies are not the only ones!

 

[Morrigan]

Old English Game Bantams, a Japanese bantam, and I think some mixes that included the Old English Game.

Several of them has a pattern like what I would expect from a wild bird: lay about 2 dozen eggs, go broody, raise chicks if she is allowed to, lay another 2 dozen eggs, go broody again... repeated all year long, except when molting or taking time off during the winter.

They are very frustrating if you want eggs to eat, but wonderful if you want to hatch chicks. Each time you start getting little bantam eggs, start collecting the eggs you want to have her hatch (her eggs or someone else's.)

Of course not every hen of those breeds will do that, but I definitely had some that did. When people talk about Silkies being "very broody," I snicker to myself that Silkies are not the only ones!

Interesting. I've always heard bantams in general tend to go broody. I do love a broody hen, but 4 or 5 times a year might be a bit much even for me.

 

[aggiemae]

For mine, it seems that raising chicks keeps her from being broody again this year.
Giving her chicks—-works best if she’s been broody 2-3 weeks already, and if the chicks are only a day old. Have a plan for if she doesn’t accept them. But she sounds like a good candidate.
I gave 6 chicks to a hen this year after her eggs all quit. She had been broody 2 weeks. I waited until night to slip them under. I knew they had been hatched the previous day. They hadn’t lost their instinct to go under mama, tho they’d been in a brooder all day and had been eating and drinking already. She happily adopted them!

No .