You ’ve probably live this at some detail : one twenty-four hour period all is calm and peaceful in the chicken cage , and the next , your normally teachable hen is short squawking , acting belligerent , and refusing to leave the nest .
Sure enough , she ’s sitting on a clutch of eggs .
What ’s surprising to some poulet - keepers is that biddy upraise without rooster ( and therefore do n’t lay fertile eggs ) can still go broody and attempt to sit onanyegg ( even imaginary unity at time ) and expect for non - existent bird to hatch .
Why does this happen and should you let your broody biddy be ? It all reckon on your end goal .
What makes a hen go broody
Broodiness is a raw wimp inherent aptitude that happens to some chickens every year , and others not at all . The three main things that bring out this doings admit :
Hormones : Broodiness switches on as soon as a hen is onetime enough to position , between five and eight month old , though a brooding hen is typically at least a year old and has had a season of laying eggs .
strain : Some breed are more or less pensive than others ( which I talk about more below ) . Generally , heritage breeds tends to be more contemplative while hybrid breeds have had this behavior selectively bred out of them .
day : The truncated daylength of winter often puts ball production on time lag . But as the day get longer and the weather get warmer , bounce fever can goad a brooding hen . She ’ll start to lay eggs with more frequency , then sit on her own eggs ( as well as other hens ’ testis ) , trying to cover them and dream up a little family of biddy .
How long a hen stays broody
pass on unattended , a biddy will persist contemplative for around 21 days , which is the time it takes to cover a clench of fertile eggs . After 21 day the behavior should block up , but sometimes , a biddy will remain broody and it ’s important to break ( that is , stop ) a broody biddy before she harms herself .
Signs of a broody hen
Broodiness can sometimes be mistaken for other health issues , but once you eff what to look for , it ’s easy to accredit the behavior .
Nesting : The telling sign of a broody hen is a sudden display of motherly instinct . Her internal secretion kick in extra time , much as women ’s do when they ’re significant , and she focuses all of her vitality into hatching ballock .
ballock hoarding : Broody hens do n’t just sit on their own eggs . They ’ll also hoard other hen ’ eggs , create mayhem in the coop ( specially if the rest of the mess strain to go in to lay eggs ) .
Roosting : A broody biddy wo n’t go rest with her flock at night . She ’ll stay in her sorry , quiet nesting area , protect her eggs and keeping them strong .
aggressiveness : Even the sweetest biddy will become ferociously protective and aggressive , peck at you if you seek to handle her or remove her egg from the nest .
Feather going : A brooding biddy will pull out her own breast features so her tegument take a breather directly on the eggs to provide more body heating .
drip in egg production : A broody hen will break laying eggs until she hatches the I she ’s sit on .
Drop in appetite and activeness spirit level : As a broody , your biddy is focused on sitting on a nest to keep the eggs warm for several hour a mean solar day , putting the baby ’ needs in front of hers and making certain the eggs are well protected . She wo n’t be eating or drink in as much , and certainly wo n’t be roam the pace with her flock .
Should you let your hen be broody?
If you need to increase your muckle , permit a broody hen to hatch testicle is importantly sluttish than managing the procedure in an brooder . The mama biddy study care of all the item for you , from furnish the proper warmness and humidness levels to testicle turn to dream up the eggs to raise the chicks outside and acclimating them to their raw environment .
On the other deal , if you prefer to use an incubator or do n’t intend to dream up biddy , a brooding biddy needs to be tamed due to a bit of risks .
It there are no fertile eggs to incubate , a stubborn hen could make herself malnourished . It ’s improbable that a broody hen will crave or die in the nest ( after all , it ’s part of her mama inherent aptitude : she wo n’t do her chicks - to - be any good if she starves herself to death ) . But she wo n’t be drinking and eating as much as she normally would , and she ’ll lose more weight than she should .
She ’ll finish laying ball the intact meter she ’s broody , which could mean 21 days ( or more ) of no eggs from one chicken during peak yield time of year .
She ’ll also hog the testicle package the whole clock time , leaving little to no room for other poulet to lay eggs . If they come near her , she might pick or whine at them .
When broodiness goes on for an excessive amount of fourth dimension , it do the hen more susceptible to respiratory infections and other diseases because she ’ll be too weak to apportion with any illness she ’s expose to .
Broody hens are also at jeopardy for getting speck and lice , because they stay in the nest all day where these infestations are usual . They aren’tdust bathingand they are n’t outdoors scratching and pecking , away from bedding material where sponge like to hide .
This is when an well preventable or treatable trouble like hint and lice can turn fateful , as a broody hen will just sit and get in her nest .
If your hen turns musing in the superlative of summer , a poorly contrive or poorly ventilated chicken coop could cause the egg box to heat up too much , putting your biddy at risk of heat exhaustion .
For all these reasons , it ’s important that you break a broody henif you are n’t hatching egg .
The 6 most broody chicken breeds
Certain breeds of chickens are more broody than others . This is actually good to know if you require to concoct your own egg every year , but it ’s also utile for predicting which hens in your raft may be out of commission each summer .
1. Cochins
Cochins have a strong tendency to turn broody every class during their prime eggs - laying years . They are big , fluffy , and sweet , and since they do n’t lay as prolifically as other breeds , Cochins make with child mother and pets .
2. Silkies
This petite stock is fabulously teachable , almost like the chicken translation of a lap covering dog . They ’re belike tie with Cochins for being the reflective crybaby breed , so expect them to take a happy chance from laying when this come about .
3. Buff Orpingtons
Another sweet , lovable bird with a teachable personality , Buff Orpingtons have that natural motherly instinct so they ’re prostrate to go broody . Since they also happen to be very generative bed , this is something to watch out for in vizor time of year if you count on a steady supplying of egg .
4. Buff Rocks
The Plymouth Rock breed is one of the most teachable strain ( do you see a trend happening here ? ) and known for follow its keepers around . I used to have a Barred Rock that would always sample to stick out in my lap ! But this cuddly inclination is what also induce them more probable to go brood hen ( the Buff Rock hen , in particular ) .
5. Brahmas
Brahmas are goodish , downy chickens with square feet . They tend to go broody in early summer , peculiarly if there ’s another biddy in the muckle that go broody . Brahmas are a great pick if you want a devoted broody hen , but because of their size of it , be sure to watch out them after the orchis crosshatch so they do n’t incidentally trample their chicks .
6. Sussex
The Sussex is one of the oldest chicken breed , and a very favorable and reliable level . These chickens go pensive every class ( sometimes quite early on ) and also make great mothers , so if this is what you want , you could count on them to hatch a clasp of egg .
The least broody chicken breeds
From personal experience , I ’ve raised three different generations of Easter Eggers and none of them have ever gone broody . This is a very active and curious strain , and my Easter Eggers have always been more interested in explore and forage than sit down on a nest .
That said , there are other breeds screw for either not being broody in ecumenical , or just not being very reliable sitters . They may commence out broody hen but abandon their nest soon after , so it does n’t take much to reveal these hen from their broodiness .
Non - broody breeds also tend to have a few rough-cut characteristics : lightweight , passably flighty or nervous , and Mediterranean , Continental , or otherwise non - American classifications . intercrossed layer bred for production ( such as black sexlinks and cerise sexlinks ) also seldom go broody .
