sandyhas3chucks Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 still researching breeds. on many lists so many are listed as likely to go broody??? I loved the vid someone posted of a very fiesty broody, but is it a real problem, just a nuisance, or just something you learn to deal with and is it inevitable with lots of breeds? thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmastar Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I dont think a hen going broody is a problem , just need to make sure she eats and is free of mites ,I guess no eggs from her at the time is a pain but i like the idea of the break they have while being broody , They can be a bit grumpy and peck if you try to stop them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 still researching breeds.on many lists so many are listed as likely to go broody??? I loved the vid someone posted of a very fiesty broody, but is it a real problem, just a nuisance, or just something you learn to deal with and is it inevitable with lots of breeds? thanks in advance Is it a "problem"? Well, that depends on your perception A broody hen will not lay eggs; so, if eggs are your reason for keeping hens, that "could" be a problem, but one that can be resolved. Is it a nuisance? To who? You as an egg gatherer? Or, you as a chook breeder? If you are an egg-gatherer, egg production decreases - onthe other hand, the potential to breed/hatch more eggs increases. So, it's a demand/supply answer. Is it inevitable? Well, of course!!!!!! Hens cannot reproduce unless they go broody, at some point, and hatch fertilized eggs! If they did not go broody, ask yourself this: how come any of the species has lasted THIS long???? For the rarer breeds, who are less likely to go broody, we have breeders to thank! Those who take the fertilised eggs of those breeds who are less than prolific and place them under the protective wings of those breeds who are more likely to go broody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quickcluck Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I'd say more nuisance, the lack of eggs is inconvenient, but the biggest thing for me is feeling sorry for them being shoved in the broody cage for weeks/months..... One of my marans is broody most of the summer, plus if one of my pekins joins in, I have a housing problem! Or some of my less intelligent girls go broody in - degrees, so I can't put them in the cage incase they freeze Plus they are more at risk of lice and can lose their condition quite quickly.... So I would take it into consideration.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coco Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have at least one hen broody most of the time. I do tend to leave them to get on with it but turf them out at least once a day to make sure they eat and drink. None of mine are really nasty when I move them although Fleur my Welsummer can be a bit intimidating. Its more of a nuisance really more so when I get two girls broody together as it can put the others of laying. Faye was broody right through the recent cold spell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 If you don't intend to hatch, then it is not in the hen's best interest to remain broody, as they lose condition and become magnets for redmite. The notion that hybrids don't go broody is untrue. I've raised many a clutch of chickens under my hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I echo Egluntyne's comment above about broodies losing condition, they can get in an awful state if left to sit and To snap out of it naturally takes quite a while If you can cope with it though it's not too much of a problem, I don't use broody cages or cold water etc.. I just hook them off the nest every time I pass the coop, they normally cotton on pretty quickly Wyandottes are supposed to be broody prone but the barred ones don't seem to have read the Wyandotte Manual the Pekins and Silkies take their broody reputation very seriously though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckmum6 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 They are frustrating and broodies are contagious, one goes and then others in quick succession! I actually moan at them, but think they are rather funny, all hormonal and completely mad. I have given in each year and let some sit, which has been a delight. The rest have had a spell in the 'chokey', the end of the cube train sectioned off with food/water and perches, no comfy nestboxes, generally take 3-7 days to snap them out, then in the case of my Pekins about another week of 'normality' before it all starts again. My Pekins lay March to May, are broody until September, then stop laying for winter ! But they are lovely characters. My Wyandottes were broody last year,but not to the level of the Pekins, my Legbar has no maternal instincts at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I agree with emmastar that it gives the hen a break from egg laying. Touch wood my silkies have not lost condition but I do make sure they are up and out in the morning, at lunch time and at tea time. Then at night they get shut out of the nesting area altogether (as do all my chooks). So it could be a bit of a pain if you are not keen on all this hoiking. It can also be a bit difficult if your hen wants to go broody in odd places, like hidden round the back of the shed. It is a responsibility I would try to avoid if I was to start my selection of chickens again. Not that I'd want a breed that never went broody but I think I'd stay away from the breeds that go seriously broody all the time. For instance I do have a silkie who is broody at the moment and it seems to me to be a totally daft time, given the weather, to have a fairly bare chest, which is what happens to them, (it enables them to keep their skin in contact with the eggs to keep them moist and extra warm) and to be sitting stock still. I'm rather worried about her in this cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 when my girls go broody I turf them out at least twice a day...morning so the girls can lay and when I get home. I have a and a spare which no one uses I but I have convinced myself they will lay in there if desperate and they have....twice in a year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks I am glad i asked as in my years with exbats I have had no experience of broodiness what so ever. Although far too much of their other inherent problems so no.... eggs are not my reason for loving chooks. It has been good to a read a few different thoughts on how to treat a broody girl Is it inevitable? Well, of course!!!!!! Hens cannot reproduce unless they go broody, at some point, and hatch fertilized eggs! If they did not go broody, ask yourself this: how come any of the species has lasted THIS long???? Maybe by sticking hundreds of eggs in an incubator and being hatched grown and lived with minimal human contact? As I am looking for a stresser free pair of chooks to keep me sane through the heartbreak of still rescuing caged birds,I want to consider as much as I can before I walk in some where see something cute and think that's the one then find I have picked a constantly broody breed I would like to leave that to those of you that are breeding by choice or have breeds because you love them want to show them etc. I HAVE read and heard of exbats going broody but just not come across it myself, and it must be a consideration for the sellers to list likely hood on the lists.. I suppose if you ARE hatching exactly the same applies as to condition of the birds and the need to ensure time out for food etc. I suppose in the wild they would just loose condition and either survive or not having ensured survival of the next generation? Anyway thanks again. and just to say I STILL have my 2 disabled girls of 3 years and 3 years3 months of freedom My special high maintenance treasures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Sandy I get exactly where you are coming from and we did exactly the same last year. After years of rehoming exbatts and losing girl after girl in quick succession last year we wanted a couple of "normal" chickens to keep us sane. I have no experience of broodiness, other than one ex-batt who had a broody couple of days once before giving up of her own accord, and didn't want to particularly go down that route so stuck with hybrids. So we visited a local reputable breeder and came home with a bluebelle and a columbian black tail. Woolley (black tail) is a delight, chatty, funny and sociable. Pulley is beautiful and she knows it and a complete diva! It's rare she lets us near her and is not remotely interested in us except for food but she is happy and healthy. It's very funny watching ex-batt Sillycon, who is also disabled, put her in her place, even though Pulley is less than half her age, twice her size and probably twice as strong! We are still wholly committed to the ex-batts (ex-enricheds now I suppose) and continue to rehome as many as we have space for (currently 12 in residence). Good luck with whatever you breed to decide to go for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan08 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 My Pepperpot (Hybrid) went broody last year. I am at work all day during the week and didn't have the heart to sin-bin her. I would turf her out in the morning and when I got in from work and would take her for a walk around the garden and give her a good talking to. (not that she took any notice) She stopped laying for about 8 weeks in total. She did lose condition and a lot of weight,she also plucked all the feathers off her tummy. But overall she recovered quickly once she had got it out of her system and was fine. I think I worried about her more than she did, and would probably leave her again. It does give their bodies a rest in one way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsk Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I have (well had, she's still alive but my 3 went to stay with my Dad whilst we went on honeymoon and he wouldn't give them back!) a blackrock who goes broody. So much so last year that we nicknamed her Darth Vader as when she was evicted she'd chase me or the collie. I evict them at least twice a day for about 5 days, then they do get a cold water dunking once a day for a couple of days. Although mine have never gone broody in low temperatures. I find it's more inconvenient for the other hens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silkiemum Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 It is a nuisance but I don't like to see my chickens unhappy and they undoutedly are unhappy and grumpy when broody. More worrying for me is the state they get in - pulling out all their chest feathers and not eating/drinking. I have lost at least one chicken after she was broody for a while - it seems to lower their resistance to everything and they do get very run down. I do everything I can to discourage broodiness and to snap them out of it eg not allowing them in the nesting box, removing eggs laid by others asap etc. Home to Rachel, Jill, Ursula, Janice, Mona and Precious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Am I rembering right that silky a ry very prone to being broody? I think I need to read the forum with paper and pen and make some notes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yes, they are. My two are very prone to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Yes, they are. My two are very prone to it. ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Yes they certainly are. I have three Silkie girlies and at any one time, no matter what the weather or the season, I always have at least one who is broody. I started off thinking I'd just have a flock of silkies (one of each colour) but soon found that this meant that not all that many of my flock were out and about in the garden doing the henny things I originally wanted hens for (i.e. making nice noises and generally looking lively and pretty) so I branched out into Frizzles and lately Polands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Sandy, I don't know whether this is any use or not but I came across this "hen breed chart" recently. Although it is American it contains info about lots of British hens too What you might find particularly useful is that the "broodiness of each breed is noted. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html I hope you find what your looking for of the hens that we kept with our ex batts I would say that or faverolle was possibly the most compatible & contrasting. She was/is big, soft and chunkie gets on with everyone and not at all broody. We love her. Having said that I can't imagine a breed that your batt ladies won't get on with. Anyway, hope you find the chart useful. Keep posting Alli x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 I am soooooooooo glad I posted this. Thank you so much every one... I had seen some list as you mentioned that so many seemed to say prone to broodiness except the hybrids... which prompted the question. not rushing into anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Three years of chicken keeping and i have never had a broody - not sure what that says about my chicken keeping skills! From what i have been told my Araucanas will put a stop to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 None of my araucanas has ever been broody - they are the most reliable layers I've had. Now, the pekins are another matter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 .......so many seemed to say prone to broodiness except the hybrids... I've had umpteen broody hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 None of my araucanas has ever been broody - they are the most reliable layers I've had. Same here- I think they're fab little birds. Maud, my little Pekin has just laid her second ever egg, and was extremely reluctant to leave the nest box afterwards. A sign of things to come I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
