Broody behaviour

[Rare]

Hello guys, just wanna know why my chickens sitting on eggs in late summer and not in spring? BTW my country is warm since March.

 

[aart]

They can go broody any time of year.

 

[Rare]

They can go broody any time of year.

Anytime but not in spring (about mine) (((((

 

[aart]

Anytime but not in spring (about mine) (((((

Well, technically it's still spring here, until the Summer Solstice in June.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Rare]

Well, technically it's still spring here, until the Summer Solstice in June.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3835906

In Armenia

 

[Rare]

Well, technically it's still spring here, until the Summer Solstice in June.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3835906

Also my neighbour’s chickens sitting in early spring

 

[BDutch]

Hello guys, just wanna know why my chickens sitting on eggs in late summer and not in spring? BTW my country is warm since March.

What month?

Never heard chickens prefer to go broody after the warm summer months. But it’s possible the hens know (knew) that there is more food available in Armenia in late summer than in spring? I read something similar (opposite) from a desert region.

 

[BDutch]

Also my neighbour’s chickens sitting in early spring

Did you try the fake egg trick to stimulate broodiness?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree they can go broody any time of the year. There are enough threads on here to prove that. A more normal cycle is for them to lay eggs and raise chicks in the good weather months, stop laying and molt in the fall to replace worn out feathers, then start the cycle again in warm weather.

This was before they were domesticated thousands of years ago. Since we domesticated them they have been specially bred to lay more eggs and go broody less. Some hens may lay 300 eggs a year instead of several dozen and never go broody. Others may still often go broody. Each hen is different and each flock is different.

I would like to have a hen or two go broody early spring so I could use them instead of my incubator. That does not happen. Mine typically start with a few going broody in late May and continue through August or into September. So I hatch early spring with my incubator and let three or four broody hens hatch and raise chicks in the summer.

I save replacement chickens that hatched from eggs laid by hens that go broody. Hens and also my rooster. That way most of the hens do go broody when they grow up, just not in the early spring or winter. It is in their genetics to go broody.

 

[Gavinthechickenman]

It also depends on the type of chickens