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emmalou

Constantly broody hen

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One of our girls is constantly broody, She seems to snap out of it for a couple of weeks then she is like it again. What can I do? Last time she had a moult too but this time she is just on her nest some of the time. It's hard sometimes to know if she is in there laying or if she is just broody and have to turf her out. It always happens before we go away too. All the other girls are fine. Babs is a Medicis hen.

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I've got 4 the same 3 are useless broodies or moms but are very determined to be broody until we get a couple of cold nights then the snap out of it. the 4th is a good broody and mom but I'm not hatching this year. I turf them out of the nest box when I can but as I'm out at work most days it's not easy most of the time I just remove the eggs and leave them to it

I did have a 5th one go broody for the first time sat on a couple of eggs for a day or 2 then after I removed them just sat on thin air for a week then went into mommy mode for nearly to months calling the rest of the girls in her group when every she went near the feed tub or started to scratch for food for them the rest just ignored her most of the time

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Same here, I think we just have to accept that we have chickens that are supremely suited to creating new chicks! Clara will lay about 10 eggs then go broody again whether it's winter or summer. As soon as I hear her cluck changing and she starts getting on the other's nerves then I know she's about to go broody and I get the broody cage set up again.

 

3 or 4 days later she's given up and starts to lay again a few days later... then after she feels she's laid enough eggs she's off again!

 

There's not a lot I can do about it I just consider it one of her quirks and give her an extra cuddle for the stress of being continually hormonal :lol:

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all my persistent broodies are my own creation bar one she's a light sussex that I brought in as a day old because I wanted the LS genes in My crosses to try to make better cockerels for the pot it didn't work out through as she turned out to be a layer of very poor quality shelled eggs and a very clumsy broody as well she didn't go broody until she was about 2 years old

all the current persistent broodies are cream legbar naked neck crosses 2nd or 3rd generation and good broodies the one can get a little over bearing mainly because she's the bottom of the pecking order and slightly paranoid the other one this year is a copper black maran welsummer cross crossed with a naked neck about 5 years old and this was her first go at been broody and if I hadn't decided not to hatch this year she would have been given a chance of being a mom as would the 2nd gen legbar cross

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If you don't want broody hens, you should get breeds that don't go broody, it is stressful to both you and the hen

 

Easier said than done!

 

While some hybrids or pure breeds almost never go broody, this isn't an accurate gauge and can't be relied on. I have 4 araucanas, which aren't supposed to go broody - one is almost constantly in the broody cage through the summer. Of my pekins, 2 can be relied on to brood, the other two won't even consider it.

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Easier said than done!.

True

I forgot that, actually that is what forced me to buy a broody cage, two Colombian blacktail, frequent broodies, 4 white hens supposed to be white leghorns, bought very young, they weren't leghorns and 4 Rhode Island Reds at least one of those will be broody at anytime

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