The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Fleecewife on June 16, 2018, 03:08:39 pm
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We bought four POL hens about 9 weeks ago and now three of the four are broody. One of those has vanished so may have been taken from her wild nest. The other two are sitting on nothing in nest boxes but won't give up (we don't force them as they will give up eventually). Other hens we bought last autumn have not gone broody and in fact we haven't had any broodies for the past two or three years.
The breeds/type of the three are: a speckledy, a blacktail and a ginger with white tail ranger type. The one young one which hasn't gone broody is a Light Sussex.
My question is: what governs when hens go broody? Is it age, breed, weather, time of year, temperature, daylight or something else?
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I’m no expert, but factors I know have an impact include :
- breed : eg Silkies very broody, Warrens less inclined
- eggs : leaving eggs in the nest box triggers broodiness
- temperature : cold hens less likely to go broody
I don’t know about the specific types you have, although I believe that many strains of Light Sussex have had the broodiness bred out of them. The old-fashioned type were a good dual purpose bird and made great broodies too. The modern ones are much more scrawny but perhaps lay more eggs.
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I had a Speckledy once that seemed to be broody 50% of the time! When she did lay her eggs were a lovely shape and brown colour and won several prizes. I finally had reason to let her sit and she raised 10 chicks from 12 eggs so redeemed herself in another way :thumbsup: I can't comment on the other types though.
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Fleecewife I have the same problem but different breeds. Bought mine POL about 8 weeks ago. 3 black rocks and 2 Marrans. 2 black rocks have gone broody and they sit on the eggs that the others are laying.
I am just removing the eggs and lifting the girls out of the nesting box. They do go to eat and a quick roam round but then go back to nesting, albeit that there are any eggs left for them.
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Thanks for the ideas folks.
Sally, we don't leave eggs in the nest boxes for long, but I think we still had the heatwave when they started brooding, so that could be what set it off. They're a hotchpotch of breeds so that won't be the only factor. Nimbusllama, so I can expect Tomasina the speckledy to be a frequent broodie. We will probably be needing new hens next year so we'll know who to let sit. I don't like dealing with the cockerels but that has to be done. So it's not just me Bionic! Was it during the hot weather that yours went broody too?
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I found they sit too long when there are no eggs and make themselves sick. I tend to remove from the mest box and put in a broody box with a wire mesh floor. It seems a bit harsh but they only take a couple of days to lose their broody desires, which I feel is better than weeks sitting.
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It's usually our pure breed and mixed breed hens that go broody, especially the Pekins or anything with Pekin in it. They make brill mum's and we have two Pekin cross hens that have just hatched a little brood each. They will sit anything and happily take day olds too.
We have a broody Black Rock at the moment and my daughter's young Brahma hens have just given up sitting. They are huge and it was a real job to evict them from the nest boxes. We locked then out of the pen and run everyday but it took weeks for them to give up! Strange thing was that they would only sit in one place and refused to settle in the broody coop and sit the eggs that we bought for them.
We get the occasional Black Rock that goes broody but never the Warren type
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Thanks for the ideas folks.
. So it's not just me Bionic! Was it during the hot weather that yours went broody too?
Yeah, it was during the hot weather. One black rock decided to give up bent broody yesterday but a Marran took her place :-(