# How many times in a year will a hen go broody?



## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

I have this one bantam hen that hatched chicks in June when she does she disappears she is gone again found out because I can't find her called her and nothing of her or she may be gone for good


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Could be either one. Birds less than two years can go broody several times. Its only once they are about two that they get more in line with the seasons and raising chicks.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

all depends on the hen
some never go broody
some go broody all of the time


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

robin416 said:


> Could be either one. Birds less than two years can go broody several times. Its only once they are about two that they get more in line with the seasons and raising chicks.


I hope that she has gone broody and is not dead I loved this hen


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## Jim (Sep 26, 2012)

I have 3 broodys now, and 3 raising chicks. All different breeds. 


Jim


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

I have a blue Orpington who mothers some 8 week old chicks I put out. She keeps them under her wings at night. She didn't even brood them. I hatched them and kept them inside until they were large enough to go in the coop. Lol.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

I found the banty hen she was wanting to hatch but in a bad place in the barn loft so I moved her into a cat carrier


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Glad you found her. Now if you can only get her to learn to lay in the coop.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Yes exactly right I have others that don't Lay in the boxes so I'm going to leave all of them in the coop till Christmas day I'm so happy I found her she had jumped down to get a drink of water so when she left I grabbed the eggs then I caught her and put her and eggs in cat carrier


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That is the way to train them to lay in the coop, keeping them up for a while until they get it right.

See if you can emulate what her nest was like in the loft. Some prefer closed spaces, some want to be up high, some want to be out in the open. I've found they can be as individual in their nest choices as their personalities.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Thanks robin hers was hidden beside a roll of chicken wire


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The clue for your girl is that it was out of the traffic. Some where quiet where she wouldn't be bothered. I don't think she chose it for the roll of chicken wire. LOL


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Yeah so she was up out of the way in a quiet area she is the best momma I candles her eggs last night I saw one of them in the egg I also set some welsummer eggs under her and some Easter eager eggs


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## Barredrockmom (Jun 27, 2014)

Boy I have a young broody right now and no rooster. She is exhibiting behavior like she is a turkey. Flailing out wings and raising neck feathers out side the coop. When she is in the coop, she grows and fluffs. She is a Jersey giant in great health and only less than a year old. She lays an egg every day to every other day. How long does this last? Weird! No other birds are giving her grief or challenging her.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Some will sit there for weeks and weeks. And you said the magic word, young. That is so much like Chicklett's behavior when she was younger.

I gave in and got Chicklett some peeps to raise. Its made things better in the pen for everybody. Once she's done raising them they will go on to a new home.


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## Barredrockmom (Jun 27, 2014)

Robin. I called the owner of the Poultry Palace where I purchased her. Jay said "Just pull her out two times a day to make sure she eats and drinks". He also said that this may happen every 6 months or so. Just repeat his suggestion. He also said he can't believe what people post on line to break them. It is such a strong hormonal behavior. What baffles me is she is not producing eggs. She does not lay on the others eggs either. She lays in an empty box. 

I took her otr last night and syringe fed her some raw egg as she would not eat the scrambled egg I made. Once she started eating she really put it down. What worries me is she has not eaten any pellet food. 

Her behavior is, I pull her out and close the coop. She runs across the yard, gets a drink and will eat some scratch with the other hens. The competition for food gets her going. Then she runs on the lawn and starts scratching at the grass. She eats a little and then it is the race to the coop. If I close her out too long she just lays down near the coop and watches the other hens. 

She is scaring the old dog too. Poor Peety gets charged at. Darn old dog does not know what to do. She raises her hackles then runs the other way. It is hysterical the way the dog is bullied by the hens. 

I'm hoping this will resolve soon. My old dog is keeping me busy with her health issues and the old cat is finicky too. Have to make sure he eats two times a day. Can't keep any grocerys on him. I'm beat. 

Luna is going on a week and a half of broody.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm not sure there is much more you can do. If she feels like she should be hatching but is not laying it kind of implies a hormonal imbalance. 

Make a slurry of her normal food. Try feeding her some of that. Make a mush of it, see if she'll dig in to it that way. You could also try the Kaytee, there are not many birds that can say no to that.

I'm with the guy and his opinions about how to break a broody. In my opinion most are down right cruel.


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## Barredrockmom (Jun 27, 2014)

It has been an emotional three months with my 13 year old dog. She had constant anal gland and urinary infections due to spinal damage years ago. Nothing was working normally. I love that dog. Today I had to take her in and have her put down. Man I hate it. Months of antibiotics plus some herbal treatments. Nothing worked and she stopped cleaning herself after her potty breaks. I'm beyond exhausted with the hen the dog and the old cat. Old dog woke me three times a night to go out side. It is cold here and leaving her out was not an option. But she is in heaven now with no more problems. 

Broody is still up to her behavior. We are going on week three. Today she actually grazed in the back 40 with the flock. She is holding her weight. But thanks for the suggestions Robin. I actually thought of finding some fertile eggs for her to hatch but no one around here has a rooster. Cross your fingers.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm sorry, Barred, I know how emotionally draining caring for your girl was and then to have to make that awful decision to release her from suffering is beyond painful. The joy of having them in our lives allows us to forget how painful it can be at the end.

How absolutely certain are you that she's no longer laying? My Hamburgs started up again after a year and they are both seven years old. So, stranger things can happen.


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## Cowchickfarmer (Sep 10, 2014)

Holy chicken I have 6. Hens setting on eggs all together th st is 45 eggs planning to hatch


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Cowchickfarmer said:


> Holy chicken I have 6. Hens setting on eggs all together th st is 45 eggs planning to hatch


Have fun when the hatching starts. You might have to be an intermediary if the girls are not separate from each other. Some will not accept any other chick near theirs and some will steal every one they can get.

Love to read the end of this story.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm so sorry for the loss off your dog..

I have a bantam silkie that has been broody since her previous owners(they told me before i bought her that she is always broody) i dont mind as her eggs are useless as they are so small lol. I make sure to kick her out to eat and drink , but that's it, i need to get chicks for once my new coop goes up so she can raise some babies.


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## sswanee17 (May 17, 2015)

I don't remember who asked how many times a broody will go broody in a year but here's the answer for my broody. When I got her it was like last Aug. she had just brooded chicks. She was broody again for me and her chicks will be 11 weeks tomorrow and she is sitting on eggs again. She is an Easter egger and evidently she loves raising chicks and does a great job of it. So for her that is three times in nine months so who knows how often they can do that I thought when her chicks were 10 weeks old that was awful soon to be sitting on eggs again


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## Barredrockmom (Jun 27, 2014)

Thank you Maryellen and Robin. I'm getting better every day. After a year of being sleep deprived with the dog, I had no idea how tired I was. I'm seeing the light now and finally sleeping again. She was a darling little dog with the prettiest little fox like face. 

OK. Now for Miss Broody. After two and a half weeks of pulling her out twice a day to eat and drink I brought her in the house at night two times. That did it. I have these plastic cages for bunnies or larger rodents and I call them my chicken hospital cages. They really come in handy with bumble foot or any other need to isolate a chicken. Luna is laying again. 

It was funny when she was broody. I would pull her out of the coop and she was in some kind of Torpor like state. I would nudge her along and she would take off like a rocket up the yard to the water dish and for some scratch. Then she would frantically scratch in the lawn. It happened just like that every time. Then she returned to the coop for the day until I took her out in the evening. 

That bird was determined to knock over anything I tried to block her section of the coop with. I finally had to use large plastic planting containers to keep her out of her spot. I tried blocking all the laying boxes off at night and I would hear her knock down the plywood to get back in her box. I had no idea how strong a chicken was. LOL

All is well in the flock again. Now for a new case of bumble foot. Dang heat here in California.


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