Chicken Health | BROODY HEN
Is My Hen Broody ?
From time-to-time hens will go broody and will be adamant on sitting in the nest box on eggs (or no eggs!).
It is more common for hens to go broody in the summer months, but it can happen at any time of the year. It isn’t known exactly why hens go broody, but it is thought that in some hens the maternal instinct is strong which causes them to try and hatch eggs, irrelevant of if they are fertilised or not.
Is it Ok For My Hen To Be Broody?
Allowing her to sit on eggs that will never hatch is not fair to her and not in anyone's best interest. At the same time your hen is brooding, she will not lay any eggs, and she may inspire other hens to go broody as well. Broodiness begets broodiness. Before you know it, your whole flock could be on strike!
Symptoms
It’s easy to know when you have a broody hen as their behaviour changes a lot.
The first thing that you will probably notice is that you will have a very grumpy hen on your hands. Below is a list of all the signs that your hen has gone broody.
- She will refuse to move from the nesting box
- Fluffs her feathers out making herself look big
- Growling and pecking when you try to remove her
- Running back to the nest box when you remove her
- Plucking out her chest feathers
Prevention
There is no real preventative to avoid hens going clucky...other than to remove eggs very regularly from the nest boxes.
Treatment
How to Stop a Broody Hen Being Broody
There are two methods to dealing with a broody hen…it all depends on where you want her back working and in production
OR if you prefer to let her raise a family and be a mum.
Take Advantage of Her Broodiness 🐣
A broody hen will be clucky for roughly three weeks as this is how long it takes to hatch eggs. You can buy some hatching eggs and choose to let her do her thing. Using a hen to hatch eggs is a much easier and hassle free than having to use an incubator. A hen will take care of the whole process from incubation to rearing them and teaching them how to be chickens! If you have never done this before it is best to get some advice from a poultry keeper who has experience.
OR Get Her Back Into Production 🥚🥚🥚
The quickest way to get her laying eggs again is to remove her from her broody state. She is all cosy in her nest box and the broody hormones have kicked in! You need to break her incubation dedication and get her to think about doing something else like laying eggs for you again! This is best done by removing her immediately from the coop and placing her in a small wire cage with wire mesh on all 4 sides and no cosy nest box or house. A wire dog crate works well. Place your broody hen in this with food and water. The wire cage is uncomfortable for her and will hopefully cool down her chest and vent area which will break her broodiness. The length of time needed to break broodiness will vary from hen to hen. Usually around 7 to 10 days is enough. You will know that your hen is no longer broody as she will no longer fluff her feathers out and when let out she won’t hurry to the nest. This may seem cruel but in the long run it can be kinder than allowing her to sit on an empty nest whilst her health deteriorates.
