Broody Hen? Here’s What To Do
by Isabelle Esch
Welcome to Broody Hen, this article in my series Raising Chickens for Beginners will tell you what to do.
You probably clicked on this article because your hen has gone broody, or maybe you don’t want her to.
Well don’t worry in this article we will go over everything you need to know about when your hen goes broody.
Such as, preventing broodiness, identifying broodiness, helping your hen go broody, and helping your hen sit her eggs.
What Is Broody Hen?
So, what is a broody hen?
A hen goes broody when she feels the desire to hatch eggs.
When your hen goes broody she will puff up her feathers and cluck warnings at you to back off, and stay away from her eggs.
There are various levels of broodiness.
When it starts she will cluck at you then move aside and let you touch the eggs.
Then she will puff up and let you move her, but won’t move willingly.
When she has fully gone broody she will try to bite you if you get anywhere near her or her eggs.
Preventing Broodiness
Maybe when you have a broody hen, you don’t want her to be broody, that leads me to our next section, preventing broodiness.
The best way to prevent broodiness is to diligently collect eggs, some hens will start going broody if you miss one day.
If you hen is already starting to display some signs of going broody, start to collect eggs twice a day or more until she goes back to normal.
If she has already gone broody and you take her eggs she will probably tell you how mad she is that you took the eggs, but she will get over it.
However, a hen that tries to go broody once will most likely try again soon, so keep a close eye on her.
Many broody hens will move where they lay if they want to hatch eggs and you have already collected their eggs.
Helping Your Hen Go Broody
What if you want your hen to go broody?
Your hen will be more likely to go broody if it is warm and you don’t disturb the eggs very often, she will most likely notice that you have stopped collecting eggs.
She may want more bedding to make her nest warmer and she will start to leave feathers in her nest.
Once she has started to spend more time in the nest, you will probably want to move the food and water closer.
If the food is too far she will go many days without properly taking care of herself, causing her feathers to dull and her movements to become slow, making her more vulnerable to predators and more likely to give up.
When They Hatch
Once the chicks have hatched, you will want to move your hen and her babies to a special coop away from the other chickens.
Most chickens wouldn’t purposely hurt a chick, but they might step on them and hurt them, and young chicks are very fragile.
However you don’t want to separate them from their mother if you can help it.
Their mothers teach them how to survive, keep warm, and find the best food.
Your hen will most likely scratch food out of the food dish to teach the chicks how to find it among the wood shavings.
Chicks will be eating mash almost as soon as they hatch, so remember to purchase the proper food for chicks, I wrote about buying feed here.
Thank you for reading this article in my series Raising Chickens for Beginners, I hope you enjoyed it and that it helped you in your chicken raising journey.
Please be sure to check out the rest of my articles about everything you need to know to get started raising chickens, like what is the best chicken feed, where to buy chickens, and natural chicken health.
Attention Homesteaders: Get your chicken coop, shed, and barn plans here.
The Homesteader
- Library of Barn Plans under 1k square feet
- Chicken Coop Plans Library
- Timer Frame Shed Plans Library
- How to Build a Barn Course
- Chicken Coop Course
Read More about Post and Beam Barn Kits below.
The Ideal Horsebarn
Picture This: In the heart of a rolling countryside, nestled among whispering trees and fields of wildflowers, stands a timber frame barn that embodies rustic elegance and timeless charm. Its sturdy wooden beams, weathered by years of standing tall against the...
Gothic Barns: A Homesteader’s Guide to Durable and Efficient Design
The Gothic barn, with its distinctive arched roof and robust frame, caught my eye as a structure that’s not just functional but also has an aesthetic charm. The design, which dates back to
Gothic Barns: Creating Enchanting Wedding Venues with Timeless Design
The Gothic barn, with its distinctive architectural features and robust construction, offers an idyllic backdrop for weddings, imbuing each ceremony with a sense of history and romance.
How to Securely Install Post Brackets for Barn Building: A Step-by-Step Guide
For a standard Post Bracket installation, position your wedge anchors diagonally across from each other in the slots on the U bracket’s tabs. This method provides a balanced, sturdy attachment. When dealing with corners, it’s tempting to cut the U bracket
Cutting Timbers in Advance: What is the best size to cut?
Question: Aaron- Thank you for all the helpful info on your website. I just recently purchased a bandsaw mill and am going to start cutting timbers for later use. I am years away from thinking about a specific barn design but know I want to create these post and beam...
Plank Frame Barn Construction: A Deep Dive into John L. Shawver’s Book
John L. Shawver’s “Constructing a Plank Frame Barn,” Forever changed the way farmers build barns.
Barn Plans and Outbuildings | by Orange Judd Company, published in 1886
Barn Plans and Outbuildings is a book that provides a wealth of designs and plans for constructing barns, outbuildings, and other farm structures. Originally published in 1881, this book offers a unique insight into the architecture and construction of these essential structures during the 19th century.
Barn to Barndominium, The Secret’s in the Loft
Hey guys, Barn Geek here. This knee wall is one of those difficult things to translate from plans to real-world scale. That knee wall on the plans looks short, and people might think they won't have much room. I am approximately 5 foot 10, or 5 foot 8. This is our...
Taming SPRING POLE Widow-Makers for a Safer Timber Harvest
As you harvest timbers for your barn project you will inevitably encounter a very dangerous situation in the woods called a Spring Pole. There are videos on youtube that discuss spring poles but most of them approach it by using two different cutting techniques. DO...