How can I make my chicken go broody?
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 344 comments
Every now and then I get an email from someone who desperately wants a chicken to go broody. Going broody means that the hen suddenly fancies raising a brood of chicks and will sit on the eggs constantly to incubate them until hatched.
You can’t make a hen go broody. It’s like trying to make X more amusing, or sexy. Either X has the tendency to be amusing or sexy or does not.
If you want to breed chicks you need an incubator or a broody hen. There are strains that have a tendency to go broody. Bantams (a small breed of chicken) are well known to be more prone to broodiness. They can be great mothers. Despite this tendency, we have six bantams and only two have gone broody over the past three years.
I have been told that Silkie bantams go broody at the drop of a hat. Some pals that had a shoot and raised pheasant eggs, used Silkie bantams with great success. But you could buy a flock of Silkies that never go broody. It’s the luck of the draw.
Mrs Boss is the one bantam chicken in our flock that goes broody regularly. Her comb gradually pales from red to pink and she will sit in the nesting box, caring for any eggs that have been laid. She is not bothered about the progeny and will happily sit on anything as long as it’s egg shaped.
It’s important to check your chickens every day and lift a broody hen off the nest. Left sitting, a broody hen may not move. If not shunted out of the nesting box to eat and drink, she will die. The sad fact is that without a cockerel to fertilise her eggs, an undisturbed broody hen will pointlessly sit on a nest of unfertilised eggs indefinitely.
If you have fertilised eggs and want to breed, a broody chicken is a boon. Settle her in a quiet place with her own supply of food and water. She will get up every now and then to stretch her legs but she will care for her eggs.
A bantam will generally be a good mother. Any sitting hen connects with any chick when she hears the first cheep. A hen sitting on eggs will generally accept all fowl that emerge from an egg that is placed under her. This could be a pheasant, guinea fowl, partridge, quail, duck or chicken. We haven’t tried ostrich or peacock (it’s a question of space).
It’s important to provide a safe environment, well away from the rest of the flock. Chickens do not go all gooey eyed when new, trembly legged chicks emerge. There is a pecking order. Need I say more?
Mother and chicks retire earlier than the other chickless hens each evening and so need a separate apartment for the first few weeks. Initially, the mother hen teaches the chicks how to drink, forage and run from danger (under her protective wing) from the word go.
Think laterally and protect your precious chicks from danger. A large stone in the drinking saucer will stop them drowning in the water. You also need to check that bullying is not going on. If this is happening, fence off the separate apartment.
I am very fond of Mrs Boss. Heaven knows why – she is broody on and off all summer. Her broodiness is a problem for us. It affects the rest of our small flock. Broody hens will chase other normal egg-laying hens out of the nesting box. Egg production goes down.
I have learnt that leaving Mrs Boss to her own devices is a downward spiral. She will not give up. She is resolute and single minded unitil I escort her to the prison cell broody coop. Now I clean out the broody coop and pop her in as soon as I spot her comb going pale. I feel a pig but if I catch her early in her broody state, her stay at Her Majesty’s Pleasure is just a matter of days.
She puts in a vociferous High Court appeal every time I pass by the run and her broody coop cell. This is ignored until her comb turns red again. Then the prison doors are thrown open and she rushes out for a dust bath.
If anyone needs a broody hen I would gladly lend Mrs Boss, although I would miss her because it takes three to four months to hatch and nurture a brood until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
My dream is that one day we will be offered fertilised eggs around the time that Mrs B is going broody. There was a fleeting hour or so this spring when someone needed to hatch out some duck eggs.
“Do you have a broody hen?”
“Well, yes. Mrs Boss.”
“I might bring round some duck eggs.”
Danny had a happy day imagining baby ducks swimming in a teeny pond (upturned dustbin lid in the chicken run.) Mrs Boss hovered in the nesting box. Finally we had the call. No duck eggs. Mrs Boss was popped into the broody coop and egg laying by the other hens erupted for the day. Chickens save up and the shells are harder.
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Just an update that my pekin eggs did not do well in my incubator. I have now put 3 fresh ones in on Saturday. Not sure if they are developing well….not sure if I am working my incubator correctly as I am guessing the humidity!
Emma
Hi James
Thanks for the info.I didnt know about the chickens and turkeys not mixing.I have got another field never been used for poultry so I will move them out of the way asap.Thanks again.
Youre ducks sound great,I have 16 week old duckling/ducks and they are so funny to watch.
Recently got 2 geese,they are far the friendliest of all the birds and also very verbal.
Karen
Hey guys, guess wat, i went down to the pond for the first time in a few weeks last nite and who did i see?
Mummy duck and six little baby ducks!!!
Theyre probably about 11 days old now, but soo cute!
I think my cockerel is the same breed as thumper
(they look similar), what is she?
New chickens layed 12 eggs yesterday, but still going gradually up.
Got some more chicks chatching on sat as i sold my others last weekend.
The new ones are a cross between our cockeral and our white stars which have laid an egg a day since christmas, so amazing layers!
Hpe everyone is well!
Hi James
Thanks so much for this invaluable information.
Totally agree about John Seymour’s books, particularly the self sufficiency tome. Kicking myself now that I didn’t refer to it over the turkey problem.
Thanks so much, James. You get stuff right but the main thing is that you are happy to share information and experiences so that everyone that comes to the site can learn, and that’s what it’s all about.
I learn the most when I make mistakes! I hate this but it’s true.
Hi karen, turkeys and chickens do not mix atall.
If they asscociate in any way with chickens then they can get a variety of deseases and ailments inluding the deadly BLACKHEAD desease. Chickens wont get any problems though.
CITATION JOHN SEYMORE’S GUIDE TO SELF SUFFICIENCY “you may even have to go to the extremes of a different set of clothes for the turkeys so as not to spread anything between them.”
Always put the hens downwind of the turkeys as even a stray feather can cause big problems.
I reccomend his books to anyone from someone with a windowbox to the 1000 acre farmer, it has EVERYTHING!!!
P.S. thanks fn with the positive feedback, feels good to know im doing things right (for once!)
James
Hi Karen
This sounds like something that you need to get to the bottom of fast. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer – I have no experience of turkey husbandry.
I’ve had a brief look on the internet but found no clues.
Why not get in touch with the breeder? You could try posting on smallholder forums too.
I’d be interested to hear how you get on.
Good luck.
Re your bantam, I think that a lot depends on the size of the eggs. Mrs Boss was sitting on six duck eggs and I think that this was too many in retrospect as these are big eggs.
hi
Wonder if any one can help.
I have got turkeys bought end of April at about 2 to 3 weeks old.Quite a few of them have developed eye problems.Swollen and puffy and then a few days later will be ok again.I have gone through all the obvious as in dust and bedding etc.They are free range out every day in at night.The main problem is when they have bad eyes they stop eating and look miserable!
I have been looking for info on turkeys,but most of the websites I have found are either about Turkey ‘the country’ or trying to sell a book about turkeys!!. I have noticed that they peck each others faces at feed time,Is this normal do you think?
About the bantam sitting on six eggs.I have never hatched my own but have had friends that have had banties hatch out 6 or more.But perhaps if she is a smallerish bird it is a bit much for her.And as already commentated best have a few hatch then none.Best of luck.
love this forum
Karen
Hi Jared
I think that James is right, you probably have too many eggs.
Hi James
Thanks for your advice. Spot on as usual.
Well, maybe the hen thinks that she has too many eggs under her, so she will push some out, so, wat i would do is take one egg away and then i she keeps doing it take another, until she is comfy. I would rather have two hatched instead of 6 unhatched cos she keeps pushing it out!
Hi I have a question if some budy coud make a reply you see I have to bantem chickens and one went broody so my friend gave me some fertlized eggs I put six eggs under her but somtimes the eggs get pushed out from under her and get a little cold wat shoud I do?