Hi! I’m a fairly new chicken owner. Still figuring out things and learning more constantly. I do have one chicken that is showing some broody behavior (i have no roosters because they are illegal where i live) She’s been laying in her egg laying box for 2 days now and she isn’t laying on any eggs. Is there anything i should do? She’s around 1 1/2 years old and i’ve been checking everyday for eggs under her and she consistently pecks at my hand. Plz help! Any info and tips are appreciated!
Broody chicken??
- Thread starter fridao
- Start date
Is she currently laying, or is she out of lay, and spends day and night in the nest box, looking like an angry pancake (or when she's disturbed, a huge fluff ball)?
Some females will growl and peck your hand, protecting the nest and eggs while they're laying.
It's the amount of time she spends in the nest, coupled with her overall behaviour, that would decide if she's broody
Some females will growl and peck your hand, protecting the nest and eggs while they're laying.
It's the amount of time she spends in the nest, coupled with her overall behaviour, that would decide if she's broody
My test to see if a hen is broody is what she does at night. I've had hens show all kinds of broody behaviors during the day and not be worthy of eggs. If a hen spends two consecutive nights on the nest I consider her a committed broody.
If you want her to break from being broody and get back to laying eggs I'd put her in an elevated cage with a mesh bottom so air can hit her undersides for 72 hours or more. Include food and water but nothing solid she could use as a nest. Dog cages (cages, not crates with a solid bottom) up on bricks od cinder blocks work pretty well though I built my own I have to break so many. Usually 72 hours is enough but if she goes back to the nest when I let her out I put her in for another couple of days.
What do you want to happen? If you want her to hatch eggs you can find fertile eggs. We can help you with that if you wish but you will almost certainly hatch boys. You'd need to get rid of them.
If you want her to break from being broody and get back to laying eggs I'd put her in an elevated cage with a mesh bottom so air can hit her undersides for 72 hours or more. Include food and water but nothing solid she could use as a nest. Dog cages (cages, not crates with a solid bottom) up on bricks od cinder blocks work pretty well though I built my own I have to break so many. Usually 72 hours is enough but if she goes back to the nest when I let her out I put her in for another couple of days.
If she is broody, and you do not want her to hatch any fertle eggs you could come up with, and you do not desire or have room for more chickens, you should break her brood. You need to do this for her health sake.
Brooding takes a total on health due to inactivity and dietary restrictions and lack of sunlight. In a natural circumstances a hen would only be in hard brood for 3 weeks then chicks arrive and she returns to normalicy with her chicks.
In circumstances with no rooster, a hen could remain in hard brood indeffinatly trying hard to hatch infertile eggs, golf balls, rocks etc intil she finally gives up, or dies (rarely).
In any case the longer she continues to set she becomes less healthy and open to lice and mite infestation among other things
Some breeds have a high brooding instinct and your girl may be one of those. In my flock I have girls that never go broody, older girls that have only gone broody once or twice, and regular broodies that do this every year, sometimes twice a year. Some go broody in the dead of winter even!
Their are good articles here in different methods of breaking her broodyness.
In short get her outside, in the day light.
Good luck!
Brooding takes a total on health due to inactivity and dietary restrictions and lack of sunlight. In a natural circumstances a hen would only be in hard brood for 3 weeks then chicks arrive and she returns to normalicy with her chicks.
In circumstances with no rooster, a hen could remain in hard brood indeffinatly trying hard to hatch infertile eggs, golf balls, rocks etc intil she finally gives up, or dies (rarely).
In any case the longer she continues to set she becomes less healthy and open to lice and mite infestation among other things
Some breeds have a high brooding instinct and your girl may be one of those. In my flock I have girls that never go broody, older girls that have only gone broody once or twice, and regular broodies that do this every year, sometimes twice a year. Some go broody in the dead of winter even!
Their are good articles here in different methods of breaking her broodyness.
In short get her outside, in the day light.
Good luck!
- Mar 14, 2018
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I have always had good luck breaking a brood with the "chicken jail". I use a big dog crate with a chicken head sized hole for a water bowl. If she can't get to her nest, it breaks the biological cycle. Usually one day/night, sometimes two.
Following because believe it or not, one of my ISA browns has been broody for about a month. She is the self-proclaimed alpha of the flock (flock of four). The second in command has joined her in the nest box and sits on her head (or allows the first to burrow under her?) no roosters. So I collect the two eggs I’m getting from the other two hens and set the broodies out of the coop to go eat/drink and just be chickens! I noticed today that alpha’s comb is faded and floppy so I gave her some wet cooked rice (extra water) that I had leftover from dinner (cold from fridge). Last time I had 4 eggs was June 17.
When a hen goes broody she stops laying. When a hen stops laying she makes some physical changes to her internal egg making factory. It can take a while for her to reverse those changes when she is finished being broody and gets back to laying.
When she stops laying her comb goes pale. A bright red comb tells the rooster she is laying so her eggs need to be fertilized. A pale comb tells the rooster she is not laying so don't bother mating with her. It doesn't matter if you have a rooster or not, the physical changes are the same.
Will she break on her own? Should I acquire a few eggs to let her sit on? (And then rehome the roos)
If she's been sitting a month I would not put eggs under her as 1) she's already been sitting too long and 2) risk of her not sitting the entire way through is higher. You could try to graft newly/recently hatched chicks instead.
In the future it's best to commit to either hatching and provide eggs earlier on. Or to just break immediately upon confirming broodiness.
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