At what age does a hen go broody?

[brownboi2012]

i have E.E hens, black australorp hens, RIR hens that are close to POL (i seen people say it like that) today one of my black australorps laid her first egg. anyways when is a good time for them to go broody? how long should i wait for her to go broody? does it depend on the breed? any help is appreciated.

p.s... im not sure if this is the right place to post but i wasnt sure

 

[addicted2pits]

Good question, I'm wondering the same thing

 

[Leslieb118]

Well, I know for a fact that if you want a hen to go broody, she won't!!

At least that's been my experience! Actually, it's really up to the hen. Some do, some don't. So far, mine don't. I've got fertile eggs, and would love for one of my hens to go broody, but no such luck for me! I've read on here though that if you're looking for a good broody type chicken to get silkies. They seem to go broody a lot.

 

[Kadjain]

I have some that have gone broody at around one year old. My B. Australorp/L. Brahma mix is a little over a year and she is raising her first clutch.

 

[sumi]

Silkies and bantams love going broody. We used to use my MIL's bantams to hatch eggs for us.
I had some hens who went broody not long after they started laying and another hen that's over 5 years old now and she went broody twice on the past year after one failed attempt 2 years ago. What I find helps is leaving some eggs in their nest boxes. Just remember to mark the eggs so you know which ones are fresh and which are bait.
Good luck!

 

[3 NH reds]

For my hens one year was the point. Not sure why, could have been eggs in the nest longer as work hours changed. You could leave eggs longer or buy some fake eggs. It may be true that they do it when you don't want it. My Orpington started and we didn't want it but we changed our mind and let her hatch a batch that she has now.

 

[FreeChicken!]

My hens seem to like starting at the age of one year. Simone, my RIR, was a year old when she went broody for seven weeks and eventually watched a chick. She's three now, and doesn't seem to want more chicks. Lol! I now have a broody Barred Rock, Misty, who is also a year old. I think it's different for different hens though.

 

[Chemguy]

I have barred rocks and buff orpingtons, and only my BO's have gone broody. They started to do so at 8 months of age, about 3 months after they had begun laying.

 

[RiddleMe]

My BO went broody at about 8 months old and hatched, my black sex-link went broody at the same time/age, but gave up after about a week. They were sharing a large box and I think the BO won the "who can steal and keep the eggs" battle. But, my sex-link has gone broody twice since, I broke her of it pretty easily the second time, I'm actually letting her sit on a couple eggs this time. They aren't fertile, but I have an order of chicks coming and if she actually sits the entire three weeks she might get a couple as a little reward.

 

[Bigrooroo]

About 1 year of age for our mixed flock. Welsummers, then BA, then BCM went broody. Now have two tat think they need chicks but are getting an ice bath dunking later today to stop this in the bud.