Is this considered "brooding?"

[Deleted]

Several of my girls, who are barely 5 months old, have decided apparently that they need to sit on their eggs.

The first one I noticed was trying to "hatch" one of those Titleist eggs, which I've since taken out of the nest boxes. Then over the last couple of days, I've noticed one in particular, and 2 or 3 others, have been laying an egg in a nest box, then fluffing down over it. This morning, my little Snuggle chicken, would NOT get up. I could have pulled her out, I suppose, but she probably would have dragged the egg with her and it would have gotten broken. When I first walked in there, the egg was in front of her, and when she saw me, she quickly rolled it underneath her and sat on it. I went outside and sat on the step and called her, and she can't resist a good snuggle, so she hopped down and came outside to sit on me. THEN I went in and got the egg. It's not too hard to trick a chicken, is it?

I thought Brahmas weren't supposed to be the broody type (although I know they're all individuals), and I've never heard of pullets this young doing this, but all I've read is in books or on forums, so no personal experience. Is this normal? Or is this not what is referred to as "broody?" I really don't know - I'm making a lot of assumptions here.

The eggs are still smallish (about medium size), but they're coming more regularly now. I started keeping a log so I can keep track (I know, I'm obsessing), and they seem to lay at all hours, but today there were 4 out there my second trip out, and 3 of them were all in the same spot (on the floor under the roosts) and all fairly warm, so maybe they're "synchronizing?" Do they do that? Seems like they were all laid within about 5 or 10 minutes of each other, by the feel of them.

~Lannie

[bergere]

yup..you have broody chickens. Which can get annoying. ::)And yes it is normal. Sigh ~ ~
Though I do love the little bluck...bluck nosies they make when they are broody.

They also like to compeat...if you have 5 nest boxes they will all want to lay in the same one.
If they lay one after the other as they push each other off the nest box....the eggs can stay warm for a few hours.

Love collecting warm eggs on a cold morning...nice hand warmers. ;D

[Deleted]

Why is it annoying?

I'm having a bit of a dilemma right now about this, though. Eventually, I'd like to be able to have some more chicks, and since I have roosters, I could just let one of the broody ones hatch a few eggs. Maybe this is too romantic, but I'd like all our critters to do things as close to natural as possible, like hens hatching out their own eggs, rather than me stealing them from them and putting them in an incubator.

But if I keep picking up their eggs from now over the winter, they'll probably figure there's no reason to want to sit on them. So maybe I should leave one egg for Snuggle to sit on (she's the broodiest). But then if it hatches, the chick will be too young to get through winter (I think). It's already September, and we'll be getting our first freezes around the middle to the end of October. Maybe I'll try it anyway, and if we lose the chick, we lose the chick, but at least one of the girls will have gone through the process and might do it again.

I don't know... has anybody else had their hens hatch out any of their chicks?

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Lannie, I never let my new pullets set until they went through a molt. I don't know where I got that info-maybe my mom years ago but she said the larger eggs produce bigger, healthier chicks.

I never tried letting a pullet brood out so I'm not sure if I've been doing things that are a part of an old wives tale or not. ;D

I never minded the broodiness although those pecks could sting.
And as far as them thinking there's no reason to keep trying-it seems instinctual so come spring they'll be stealing those nest spots and attempting to set again. Heck, even my old hens who seldom layed an egg would gather their 'neighbors' eggs and try to set.

[Deleted]

Oh, cool. Then I'll keep picking them up. I was just afraid they'd give up after a while.

I haven't been pecked yet, but Snuggle is the one who doesn't want to get off her egg. Today she "threatened" to peck me! She bumped her beak into my hand a couple times, but she didn't actually peck me. She also wouldn't get up! LOL! She's just a big ole snuggle-sweetie and I don't think she has a mean bone in her body.

And about old wive's tales. They're around for a reason.

Thanks!

~Lannie

[bergere]

Annoying Lannie,, :'(when they stop laying eggs because they get soooo broody they would try to hatch a rock... I kid you not! ;D
And you need said eggs to bake with.
Annoying because mine get broody and hide off in the blackberries where we can't get them and the predators eat them. Sigh ~ ~
I will not force them to stay in the hen house all day..... lets just say.... mine keep me a little too busy sometimes.

We are working on the blackberries but we have about 2 to 3 more years before we get them under control.

For chicks...she hatched out two. Only because I found said Hen,, got stung by the nettles getting her out....got her and her eggs and put them in a large dog kennel in the Hen house.
She is also the first hen that did not want to sit on the eggs after the first chick hatched. Did not catch that in time and only saved two out of the 10 eggs. Sigh ~~ All of them ready to hatch.
Boy was I drepressed.

[bbird]

As long as the hen is "strictly" sitting on her egg and can not be bribed to come off, I'd let the hen be. If you can call the hen off the eggs, I'd remove the eggs because she is not mature enough to know she can't keep getting off and on the eggs to hatch them right. It's not the norm for hens so young to become broody, but it does happen in my experience. All our banties that are free ranged 24/7 are very broody. We just had a naked neck hatch out 7 chicks yesterday.

Oops...forgot to add. A young hen that likes to sit on the eggs but can be bribed to get off the eggs....well, I would be concerned more for the hen because she will not be eating all the time and will lose weight (like a broody hen does).

We had one hen who would do hatch after hatch if we let her. She would get extremely thin because it was so hard on her. Broody hens typically only get off the eggs once a day to eat really fast and make a giant poop and then goes back on the eggs.

***sheesh, I just reread what I wrote and I'm scatterbrained. Hope that made enough sense, because I'm almost scared to try it over.

[bergere]

Deb,, my only worry is Lannie lives in a heavy snow area. If the hen sets said eggs... the chicks might not do so well so late in the season.

Ah well.. keep us up dated Lannie. ;D