It’s that time of year when I have hens who start to go broody. Hens who decide they want to be a mom are called “broody”. It should really be called “moody” because my little sweet balls of feathers become more like mountain lions during this time.
Signs of broodiness include:
- Seeing more feathers than usual in the nest boxes. Broody hens will often start padding the nest by removing the soft feathers from their belly.
- Hen stopped laying during prime egg laying season.
- Look for bare bellies when you pick up the hen.
- Broody hens will usually try to puff up and make themselves look as large as they can. Sometimes they run around the farm puffed up, angrily bitching at everyone. It’s hilarious – unless you’re afraid of birds, then I imagine it would be terrifying.
- Obvious attitude changes. A broody hen can make a woman with PMS seem happy. They may growl or even peck or bite, especially when on the nest.
- Stealing eggs. Broodies can be ambitious enough to steal and hoard eggs from other hens, even sit on fake eggs or rocks.
- Loitering in the coop/nest boxes. I have several hens who clue me into their broodiness by spending hours on the nest days before they are actually ready to commit to sitting on eggs.
If you live in a city or town where you can’t have roosters or you need your hen to keep producing eggs a broody hen can be a big issue. Not to mention for some reason it’s contagious to the rest of the flock. When you discover a broody hen and you don’t want others to “catch” it you’ll need to remove them from the flock and pray the other girls don’t already have the idea in their heads.
It’s hard to predict which individuals will go broody. I have one I can count on like clockwork every year. She was made to be a mom. Others go broody once or never at all.
If you want to break your broody it can be very difficult. Some people recommend putting them in an ice bath – I think this is cruel. You can try to cool their body down by putting them in a wire bottomed cage so there’s good air flow. Add a fan to help if you have one. A cool bath is fine but please don’t add ice. The point is helping get their temperature down, humanely.
If these methods fail then it’s best to let her hatch eggs. Don’t let her broodiness last too long, many people lose hens this way. Give her eggs to hatch and keep her comfortable for the three weeks it takes to hatch her chicks. If you can’t have additional hens or roosters you can find a farmer who will take the chicks back once they’ve hatched. I do this all the time for people.
I love having broody girls. It means I don’t have to incubate eggs. I just have to care for my hen. Hatching eggs is hard work on the girls but if they want to be a mom, I want that for them as well.
Broody hens will get off the nest about once a day to eat and take an incredibly large, smelly poop. It’s disgusting and makes me gag. My hens tend to get off their nests during afternoon feeding time. While they are gorging themselves I take this time to check the eggs and add clean bedding. Some hens will crap right in the nest and it needs to be cleaned as best as you can. I throw out any cracked eggs.
You may notice your egg count dwindling occasionally. Some hens will eat eggs that don’t develop. This isn’t abnormal.
A few days before the hatch date (18-21 days) you may notice your hen doesn’t move from the nest and become even more agitated with your presence than usual – or not. Either way, I continue to offer food and water to the sitting hen. They are always super grateful for the water. Some gorge on the food, others decline it.
Chicks will hatch from days 18-2? If the hen wants to stay on the nest I’ve learned it’s because there’s a late hatcher. She will get off the nest with her new littles when she’s ready.
Very often the early hatchers are sitting with their mom while the others continue to hatch for several more days. As I offer food and water to the hen I take time to teach the little ones how to drink by gently dipping the tip of their beaks into the water. The mom teaches them to eat quickly with her rapid clucks. It’s really cute to see the hatchlings run out from her fluff to try food for the first time.
People often ask how soon they can get their hen back to laying. This varies with each individual hen but usually about four weeks after hatch. If you remove the babies they may start back sooner. It’s taken longer than four weeks occasionally but it’s a good average.
If you find your hen goes broody often and you need the eggs I recommend trading with someone who loves broody hens. There are a lot of people who like to use hens to hatch. My hens usually have excellent hatch rates – much better than incubators.
If you have a broody hen make sure to separate her from the flock or you may have a lot of hens wanting to be mothers. Last year I had well over 100 chicks from broody girls. Things got a little crazy so don’t be like me – separate your broody.