What Makes a Hen Broody and How To Stop The Behavior If You Don’t Want Chicks

When a hen gets broody, it means she’s ready to be a mom. Your chicken’s hormones are going crazy, urging her to sit on some eggs and hatch them. Being broody is a natural combination of hormones and instinct.

If you are trying to hatch fertile eggs, then a broody hen is important. Sometimes hens even need help getting broody and there are ways to encourage them to get there.

In this blog post, we are talking about hens that we don’t want to go broody since we are not looking for them to hatch a fertilized egg. If you have a Rooster and are trying to hatch chicks, then you do want a broody hen.

Here are signs of a broody hen.

• She is always sitting the nest or nesting box.
• A broody hen will be aggressive, ruffling her feathers and being sqwaky. She may even peck at you when you go near her. She is be protective.
• The hen may be missing chest feathers that she pulls out. She does this to help insulate that eggs and keep them warm.
• Her comb become pale and smaller.

Sometimes even if you don’t have a Rooster, maternal instincts will still kick in. But is it okay to let a hen be broody? Well, after about 21 days, the broodiness should stop on its own. However, sometimes a hen can become stubborn and stay broody. It’s important to break this behavior before she harms herself. Broodiness can be especially tough on hens that don’t have fertile eggs to hatch, as they might end up malnourished and dehydrated.

For those of us who just want eggs to eat, a broody hen can be a bit of a hassle. We need to make sure our hens are getting enough food and water, especially in hot summers. Breaking a hen of her broodiness will ensure that she eats and drinks when she needs.

A lot of the time, hens will break out of their broody cycle.

This seems to happen to one of my chickens every year and after a bit, it clears itself up. It is important that if you have a broody hen that the eggs are removed daily so she is not sitting on them. These eggs will not be hers since a broody hen is not laying eggs but if they share nests, she will find eggs to sit on. This must be done with care, since broody hens can be very protective and will peck at you. If your hen pecks at you, it would be a good idea to put on leather gloves when handling her.

It’s important to stop a hen’s broodiness as soon as possible once you notice it. The longer she stays broody, the longer it will take to break her and get her back to laying eggs.

Below are a couple of lists of breeds that are known for having broody hens and breeds that are least broody. This is just something to think about, depending on what purpose you have your chickens for. There are times you may want a chicken breed that tends to be broody or not, which does not match your purpose of chicken ownership. These lists are not to discourage you from owning a breed you want; they are just to make you aware of what to watch for.

Here is a list of breeds that are known for broody hens.

• Silkies
• Brahmas
• Cochins
• Orpingtons
• Cornish
• Marans
• Wyandotte
• Speckled Sussex

Here are the breeds that have the least broody hens.

• Barred Plymouth
• Red Sex Link
• Black Star Sex Link
• Red Star Sex Link
• Golden Comet
• ISA Brown Chickens
• Easter Egger
• Leghorns
• Rhode Island Red

Now let’s go over some ways to stop a hen from being broody.

1. Remove the hen from the nest often.

I remove the hen off of the nest to check if she is sitting on any eggs. This has worked for me many times.

2. Lock her out of the coop during the day.

Be sure that all your other hens have laid their eggs for the day. Then let the hens back in their coop in the evening.

3. Give a cool water bath.

You will want to use cool water, not ice water. No reason to torture her! Fill a sink or small tub with cool water, only deep enough for her chest and vent to be under water. Hold her in the water for a few minutes. The idea is to lower her temperature, which will break her from being a broody hen. It is important that this is done on a warm day, you want to make sure she will be able to air dry to prevent her from getting sick.

4. Ice cubes or a bag of frozen vegetables in her nesting box.

The idea of this is that it will make her uncomfortable, and she will stay off the nest. This is not torturous since you are not holding her on the ice, it just discourages her from sitting on the nest.

5. Place her in a wire cage.

Place a broody hen in a wire dog kennel or rabbit hutch.. It is important that the bottom is wire and that there is no nesting material. The idea is that she is not comfortable, and her underside keeps cool since she does not have nesting materials to sit on. As you can see in the picture below, we built one out of wood remnants and chicken wire with a removable plywood top. So, if you don’t own a wire kennel, you can build one easily. It is important that the cage is elevated off of the ground. Leave her in the cage with food and water for a couple of days. When you let her out of the cage, her behavior should be back to normal. If she heads right back to the nesting box, then the hen will need to go back in the cage for another day or two. This process may take two to six days.

Before you know it, your hen house will be back to normal.

Remember, it may seem harsh to break her, but it is important for her health and to get her back to laying. It is very common for hens to go broody, and anyone that owns chickens must deal with this problem.

Please pin and share my article. Ready my article on How to Handle Farm Fresh Eggs Like a Pro.

Thank you!

Yvonne