What Is A Broody Hen ?
What is a broody hen? The short answer is: that a broody hen is a female chicken that longs to be a mother. Although, if you read further you will see the answer is a bit more complicated.
How can I tell if I have a broody hen?
- A broody chicken will stop laying eggs.
- She will not leave her nest.
- The old girl will become very protective of her space. She will peck at anyone who comes near her nesting area. Often times she will flare up her feathers, kick up dirt, and squeal at you. She is giving you a fair warning to keep your hands off of her and her eggs!
- She will cut back on eating and drinking.
- She will only leave the nest if you physically remove her or give herself a dust bath.
- She might pull out her breast feathers. It is her way of creating skin-to-egg contact for her babies so they stay warm. It is her version of skin-to-skin contact.
Can a hen go broody without eggs?
Yes. Despite having no eggs to lay on, a chicken can go broody without eggs. She will often lay a handful of eggs and then stop laying altogether. Even if you remove all of her eggs, she will continue to sit on her nest. She may even claim other hen’s eggs and nesting areas as her own.
Will a chicken sit on unfertilized eggs?
Yes. In fact, a chicken will sit on both fertilized and unfertilized eggs.
Does a chicken have to be fertilized to become broody? What if there is no rooster?
No. In contrast to what most would think, the eggs do not have to be fertilized. Fertilized and unfertilized hens can both become broody. Crazy enough, it does not even matter if there is a rooster on the property or not.
What causes a hen to become broody?
Generally, when the sun stays out and the temperatures rise, it will cause a chicken to produce hormones that signal that it is time to become a mother. While this can happen any time of year, it mostly happens in the spring and summer when the days become longer. It is literally her maternal biological clock ticking and telling her it is time to have some babies.
Is it bad for a hen to become broody?
Whether it is bad for a chicken to be brooding or not depends on the situation. In the event that you have fertile eggs that need to be hatched, then it is an awesome and great situation to have a brooding hen. If she is not fertilized and you wish to get more eggs from her, unfortunately, then it is not so great. Her aggressive attitude and lack of eggs can make her quite a nuisance on the farm. In addition, she may become dehydrated and malnourished during this time.
How do you stop or prevent a chicken from brooding?
To get a chicken’s hormones to stop signaling that it is time to become a mother you must do the following
- Collect her eggs daily– if she is allowed to gather a clutch of eggs in her nest ( about a week’s worth), it will signal to her brain that it is time to start heating them. That way they can grow into baby chicks.
- Physically remove her from her nesting area– you will need to do this multiple times per day. Better yet block her from her nesting area altogether. Bring her to another cage or block off the nesting box.
- Let her lay on and hatch fertilized eggs– Let her lay on her fertilized eggs or buy fertilized eggs from the internet or a local farmer. Place them under her and let her become the adoptive mother she always wanted to be. It is an amazing and beautiful thing to see what great mothers God created for this world.
How long will she remain broody?
According to British Hen Welfare Trust, a hen “may well be broody for up to six weeks”. Therefore, it is pertinent that you help her to remain cool and prevent dehydration/ malnourishment. You may leave a personal waterer and feed bowl near her nesting area.
How long will a brooding hen stay in her nest?
It takes approximately 21 days from the time that the old biddy starts brooding until the baby chicks begin to crack out of their shells. This is not a hard and fast rule. I have had chickens hatch on day 19 and some hatch on day 23. After all, every egg is different and comes in their own time.
