When Will a Broody Start to Sit Again After a Bad Clutch, and What to Feed Her?

[112Days]

Whew, been a while since I've needed to ask a question on here, everyone else is so thorough!

About a week ago, my little bantam leghorn, Lucky, was presented with 5 Wyandotte eggs from my own flock. I was so excited - my first hatch!

About 4 days in, she laid an egg. I didn't think much of it - I'd just picked her up from the rehoming cage at the feed store (where she was put with her sister, who unfortunately ran away when she slipped out of my hands at home, for broodiness) a few days before that and I was happy she was relaxed enough to lay eggs in her little shoebox.

She kept sitting on them for a few more days, but less and less every day. I tried to encourage her to sit back on her nest, but she wouldn't stay on it after I walked away. She got very sad one day and just sat in the dust under her broody house, taking a bit more time than usual to go back into her shoebox.

She's been laying eggs for a few days straight now, so I figured I had dead chicks and cracked open her eggs to find 4 blood rings paused at day 1 and the one I thought was of the best quality unfertilized

Lucky and I are both mostly done mourning, and she's getting her strength up for raising another clutch.

Whew - on to the questions, finally!

1) How long does it take in your experience for a hen to go broody again after a totally lost clutch?

2) How can I help her gain weight in a way that she'll have enough energy to stay healthy during her next broody cycle?

Thanks in advance for any answers and letting me vent

 

[WhiteWyan]

I've heard of "breeder diets" for chickens. I think those are supposed to increase viability of eggs and sperm, increase fertility and hatch-ability. However, they are very nutritious and wouldn't hurt to give her an extra nutritious diet. You might want to look into that?

 

[sumi]

Usually when a hen is truly broody she stops laying eggs and focusses on hatching the eggs she has (if any). It sounds like your hen was thinking about it, but not entirely committed. Hens' broodiness depends on the individual hen as well as breed, some breeds being more prone to it than others, so it's hard to say when she'll get broody again. It may be a week or two, it may never happen. It will depend on her and her hormones.

For food, if she's laying feed her a good quality layer ration so she has what she needs for egg production and if you are concerned about her weight, feed free choice, i.e. have it available at all times, so she can help herself when she feels like it. You can supplement her diet with a bit of extra protein by offering meal worms (probably the most loved chicken treat of all), some scrambled or boiled and chopped eggs or a little tinned tuna. Keep the treats to a minimum though, just a little bit now and then.