It’s been a wee bit difficult getting eggs lately.
Awkward Martha our Plymouth Rock chicken and Squirrely our tiny bantam we picked up for free at last years Mother Earth News Fair have gone broody and won’t give up the eggs without a small fight.
When chickens go broody they tend to sit on their “eggs” for about 30 days and wait for them to hatch. Now that we have a good sized flock of laying hens I anticipate this is going to be a long spring, summer and fall in terms of wrestling chickens off the eggs to collect them.
I feel bad because they don’t know their {and the other hens} eggs are not going to hatch. The odds are zero to none for live chicks now because we had to say goodbye to Pablo the rooster a few months ago.
Poor chickens. I feel bad for them.
Do you have chickens? Do you do anything special for them when they go broody?
Do yours puff up like a giant turkey and cackle at you when you try and steal their eggs too?
~Mavis
If you would like to learn more about raising chickens and all the fun and excitement it brings… Check out The Joy of Keeping Chickens. By Jennifer Megyesi.
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Chaundelle Burch says
I have 5 hens that went broody all within a few days of each other. I let 2 of them, Queenie and Blanche sit and hatch them. They are both proven brooders and fantastic mommies. They are fiercely protective but will let me and my hubby approach and handle the babies. The other three got “time out”. I put them in individual kennels that are about 3′ x 3′ for about 3 days and that seems to break their obsession. It takes them about another week to start producing eggs again. All our hens yell, screech and peck at us when they get broody and we approach them, but we wear gloves to handle them and they settle down after a few minutes. Unfortunately, it’s the time of year when this will be an ongoing issue for quite a while, but it’s just part of owning chickens. Also, I mark about 4 of the eggs that I want to hatch, and that way I can tell which ones to leave under the hen, and which ones got laid that day and then I know I won’t take one that isn’t fresh.
Jill Frank says
We are just starting our chicks – so haven’t gotten to that point. Hopefully someone has some good pointers! My kids will run away if they start having difficulties getting eggs (once we get to that point). 🙂
Renay says
See if you can find an agate egg. Look in nicer nurseries or home decor stores. I got mine around Easter. The agate/rock egg is great because if they do get the urge to peck, it will hurt like heck and they won’t peck again!
Maureen says
Our hen, Cheepy is broody right now to and we feel so sorry for her. We just give her extra attention when she comes out of the box and feed her additional greens.
cptacek says
My sisters and I were reminiscing over how we hated going to get eggs and have the chickens peck us. My mom piped up and said “You should have had leather gloves on. That’s what I did.” And why didn’t you tell us that before? 🙂
Mavis says
Ha!!
Dennis L says
Buffy, our orpington went broody about 5 weeks ago. So I found a lady a hour down south who has Swedish Flower Hens. I got 8 fertilized eggs. Buffy sat on them for 21 days and we have the most beautiful little chicks running around right now. Buffy is a fierce and mighty warrior mother hen. She’s upsetting the whole social order while protecting those little babies…
Jesse says
I have 10 hens and zero roosters. No matter how many times I explain it to the girls they still think they can hatch those eggs!
My silkies are the broody about every other month but they don’t put up much of a fight when I steal the eggs. My Cochins are a little angrier but I have yet to be pecked.
I do use a “broody breaker box” occasionally if I think someone is too skinny to be broody for a month. It takes about 3 days to break them and it doesn’t hurt them at all to be in the screen box with their own food and water.
Melissa W. says
I have heard stories of a million different ways to “break” a broody hen … but none of them seemed appropriate to me … so now when I get a broody hen I go out and check the nest boxes as often as I can (sometimes 4 or 5 times a day) and push the lady out of the box … usually after about a week they give up … that is what seems to work for us … but every chicken and owner is different 🙂
Nichole says
I agree with Melissa. When our hen’s went broody we’d do the same thing. 1) Take away their eggs. 2) Push them out of the nest box. 3) Repeat a few times a day. Eventually they get the point.
Dan M. says
I agree, collect the eggs and force them off the nest. I lost one that went broody; I just collected the eggs and let her be. I don’t think she came off the nest enough to eat right and I think that’s what did her in. The last one I took her off the nest every night and made sure she ate, after 2 weeks she gave up on the nest.
Crystal says
You should buy some fertilized eggs for them and let them brood you some more chicks!
Mavis says
I know! I’ve thought about it, I bet my girls would love it. 🙂
Anke says
HI, our Austrolorp Berta went broody and I got her 5 fertilized eggs from a friend. And 20 days later we had five little chicks peek out from under her… one day earlier than anticipated. Soo cute. Mama hen has been really nice to me the whole time, no pecking, and now she is showing her little ones the ropes. It’s great to see for me and my kids. We love it. Unfortunately we will have to find homes for all the little roosters… but the experience is great.
Village Brat says
I have one, darned if I can remember the type–the golden ones, who is broody right now. No rooster either so no chance of babies, although I am trying to decide if I want to get one and take that whole baby chick thing on after 8 yrs. or so at the time of raising chickens.
After I pull the eggs, which she puffs up for…but no pecking, she gets pulled and put outside with some greens. I always worry when they get like if they are getting enough food and sun.
I like the dog kennel idea to break them of it.
Am off to heal in the 1000 strawberry plants we got yesterday while the ground thaws!!! Have a great day all
Samantha M. says
With broody hens keep an eye out that they all actually go in at night, if you bother them in the nesting boxes too often they can go out and hide under bushes, under sheds, in one case we had one nest under an old car and they make nests in the hardest to find spots imaginable. Bantams are amazing at this as they’ll nest in the tiniest spots.
When I lived in the country every so often we’d think a hen had been taken by a fox or something only to have her turn up a few weeks later with a little trail of babies and we had no idea where she’d been even though we’d searched high and low for her. .
Linda P. says
What type of bedding do you have in your nest boxes Mavis?
Mavis says
I alternate between straw and pine chips. 🙂
Darlene says
I hate broody chickens! They are quite a hassel! We had one that was broody all of the time, for nearly 9 months and we couldn’t break her of it (I won’t tell you what became of her). I understand that the bantams and heavier breeds tend to get broody more often.
They don’t eat or lay eggs while they are broody and can cause problems in the nest box with your other hens.
You can try to throw her off the nest as often as possible and collect eggs more often. Also, you can sequester her to a cage, or just out of the chicken run during the day to help break her of it.
Good luck =)
Becca says
Our funny silkie, Chicken Joe, regularly goes broody and now that we live in a bigger space I rounded up fertilized eggs for her. I put 8(TOOOO much for a bantam!!!) under her and hoped for the best. I marked all over them with permanent marker. One day she came out with red and green rubbings on her, so that didn’t work so well. She is down to just 2 known fertilized and one questionable egg because she is the lowest on the totem pull and gets kicked off her nest so the other 3 can lay their eggs in that box. 🙁 The eggs have been rolled around and gotten broken or left out too long. Sammy decided to go broody and now is sitting on top of Chicken Joe who is on top of the eggs. Goofy girls. In the past, I always just got her out of the nesting box as often as I thought of it and she’d finally give it up.
Carolyn says
I had the darnest time the last two years and finally last year just let one hen hatch out a clutch. Usually I will pick up the hen and walk around with her and just disturb her setting and that will break her after a couple of days. Of course then she is just spoiled and wants to be held. 🙂
Cynthia says
My hens are free-ranging at the moment due to their run being overtaken by a pumpkin patch I wanted to keep. Two disappeared for a bit and reappeared with lots of gorgeous chicks in tow.
However, if you have hens going broody on eggs that can’t be hatched, I strongly recommend you do something about it. They will NOT just sit for a month and then give up – most broodies will hang in there for ages (potentially months for the most tenacious) hoping the eggs with hatch. In the meantime, they spend very little time eating, drinking or taking care of themselves, and while they are well designed to handle this for a normal brooding period (21 days), when it drags on and on they lose condition badly.
There are various “remedies” for broody hens, but basically most will go off the brood if they are removed from their chosen nest and are unable to get back to it. Ideally, move them somewhere where they do not have access to any nesting material/area for a few days, and they will normally get the message.
The other viable option, of course, is to get them some fertile eggs to hatch. If you do this, be sure to mark your eggs (I use a cross on one end in pencil) so that you can identify them and remove any extras your hens have added to the pile – it’s very normal behaviour for other hens to climb in with the broody and give her more eggs to hatch. The best way to check on and remove extra eggs is to pick the broody up gently off the nest, rather than reaching under her – too much tumbling the eggs around that way can damage or kill them. If she’s a real fighter, cover her head gently with a soft cloth or sweatshirt, then pick her up and hold her close with one arm while you check the eggs. Other, and better option, is to have the broody sitting somewhere away from the others where she can hatch her eggs undisturbed. Often a nesting box in a chicken run is high up, and this is no good once the wee chicks hatch as they can’t safely get out of and back into the nest. So if you’re thinking about hatching eggs, move the broody to a new nesting place first, and make sure she’s still sitting happily before giving her the fertile eggs.
Becky says
Badmitton Rackets are the ticket. You can gently lift those cranky chickens and while they are busy pecking the racket strings, you reach underneath and snatch those eggs. They never know what happened.
Mavis says
Oh I like that one! 🙂
Fae says
Hi Mavis!!
My neighbors across the street have had chickens for years. Since they are not part of the HOA that we unfortunately belong to, I got some chicks at the end of the season last year and added mine to their flock (they are awesome friends). My Black Australorp ‘Jet Set’ went broody over one egg…ONE! Poor gal! So since we have ‘Lucky’ (as in Lucky to be alive) the rooster we put a few more eggs under her. I check on her daily to give her water, feed and scratch. I have heard of putting ceramic eggs, door knobs (with the stick part down) or wooden eggs under your birds if they are broody. I have always wondered about plastic Easter eggs with something in them to weigh them down.
So, I have been reading your blog for about 6 weeks now. I noticed you live across the Narrows from me. I live in the Graham/Puyallup area. I am always interested in networking/bartering goods and services. I get to Port O frequently. Drop me an email if you are interested in discussing anything. I know that meeting people on the ‘net is sketchy so I understand if you are not. God Bless.
Mavis says
Thanks Fae! 🙂
Mari says
Hey Mavis.
Why don’t you get some fertilised eggs and put them under you broody hens??
If you don’t do that, you really need to isolate the broody without any privileges (a cage on her own, no dark areas) or she will stay clucky for a long time if u let her sit on eggs that don’t hatch.
I buy fertilised eggs from the NZ equivalent of EBay, but some of your readers may have a rooster with their hens and let you have some eggs? It is so much fun raising chickens from a hatching under a hen and seeing how good they are as mothers. We have an old rabbit/guinea pig cage we have used as a hatchery. One year we got too roosters and they were called soup and roast. And they were jolly tasty too.
jubob says
we have 14 hens who all lay in the same 2 nests(we have 16 available) and take turns sitting on all of them. we just take their eggs give them some treats and take a peckin from time to time. so far so good.
Cathy says
I have 13 chickens (11 hens 2 roos) and 13 turkeys (9 hens, 4 toms – soon to be 2 toms)
My chickens don’t go broody, but 7 of my 9 turkey hens are currently broody! One hatched out 5 babies, one is sitting on 19 eggs (17 turkey and 2 chicken. O.o ) One is on 14 turkey eggs that I marked, and the last 4 are on 36 chicken eggs. (2 turkey hens went broody together and were sitting on golf balls till I gave them eggs)
I’m only getting 2 turkey eggs a day lately from my last 2 girls, but I figured the easiest way to ‘break’ all 7 of these broody hens is to give them something to hatch. Over and done with. They’ll hatch em out and eventually get back to running around. And I’ll have plenty of chicks and poults that I can sell off locally and raise for meat.
ari says
my friends replaced the hens eggs with fertile ones for her to sit on