Broody hen from non-broody breed

[JubileeFarmer]

Much to my surprise one of my California White pullets (Bianca) has gone broody. I did some research about broody hens from non-broody breeds and found this on the Cackle Hatchery website - "Occasionally hens of a Mediterranean breed will decide to brood. However, they are rarely reliable as setters, often abandoning the nest before the hatch. And they are even less reliable as mothers."

Bianca has been sitting for three days now and seems quite dedicated so I am going to let her sit on a few eggs and see what happens. I am also setting eggs in my incubator at the same time so if she turns out to be a bad setter or a bad mother I can put her eggs/chicks with the others.

If you have experience with broody hens from non-broody breeds please let me know how it worked out. Do some of them turn out to be good mothers?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do some of them turn out to be good mothers?

Some of them? Most of them are great if they go broody. Some hens from breeds that go broody a lot are horrible, but most are great. With living animals you don't get guarantees either way, but if you want her to hatch eggs give her a chance. I think your odds of success are pretty good.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[JubileeFarmer]

I found a dead chick in Bianca's nest this morning, not under Bianca, so I reviewed my coop cam footage to see if I could figure out what happened. I discovered that when it hatched earlier this morning she freaked out and attacked it. I have removed the other five eggs and placed them in the incubator. I won't be letting Bianca brood again.

 

[MROO]

I found a dead chick in Bianca's nest this morning, not under Bianca, so I reviewed my coop cam footage to see if I could figure out what happened. I discovered that when it hatched earlier this morning she freaked out and attacked it. I have removed the other five eggs and placed them in the incubator. I won't be letting Bianca brood again.

I had one hen that was an amazingly dedicated and reliable setter, but when those nasty little yellow things started breaking her eggs, she went NUTS! Like you, I pulled the rest of that clutch right away. She insisted on going broody again and would simply NOT break. I let her have at it for two weeks, then finished them off in the incubator. Every last egg hatched - best hatch rates I've ever had. What a stinker!

 

[JubileeFarmer]

I had one hen that was an amazingly dedicated and reliable setter, but when those nasty little yellow things started breaking her eggs, she went NUTS! Like you, I pulled the rest of that clutch right away. She insisted on going broody again and would simply NOT break. I let her have at it for two weeks, then finished them off in the incubator. Every last egg hatched - best hatch rates I've ever had. What a stinker!

Bianca was a great sitter. Never left the nest for very long and always went back to correct nest. If another hen was on her nest when she came back she would sit in another nest for a while and then go back to her eggs as soon as the nest was free. All six of her eggs hatched before any of the eggs in the incubator that were set at the same time. I was very disappointed that she turned out to be a bad mother because I only keep chicks for myself when I have a broody hen to raise them and I only have one other hen at the moment that has ever gone broody so I need a backup broody in case something happens to her.