Healthy hens
Broody hens
Depending on what breed of chicken you keep depends on the likeliness of whether they'll go through a broody phase each year. Breeds such as the Welsummer, Leghorn and Ancona's don't usually go broody at all but many other breeds will. Hens can become broody around 2-3 times a year usually in the spring or summer.
Dealing with broody hens pretty much depends on what you want out of keeping hens. If you'd like to breed chickens, have a cockerel or a fellow hen keeper with fertile chicken eggs you can use a broody hen to your advantage. However if you'd like the optimum amount of eggs, it's best to discourage the hen from being broody.
How to spot a broody hen
A broody hen will happily sit and remain in the nest box or wherever they
like to go to lay for the majority of the day and night. Each time you
go near her she may fluff up her feathers and make an unusual noise and
may even attempt to peak as this is her way of protecting her clutch.
Broody hens will make a quick dash to the feed and drinker and possibly
have a quick dustbath before returning to the nest. Hens will often pluck
the feathers from their under carriage to allow the heat from their body
to reach the eggs more efficiently so you may spot a few feathers in
the nest too.
How to discourage broodiness
To prevent hens becoming broody it's always good practice to remove eggs
frequently, at least once a day to prevent the hen from wanting to sit
and nest. If you find you have a broody hen
the first thing to do is to encourage them out
of
their nesting
site
(I often just
pick them up and send them
out the coop door).
There are many different methods to stop your hens being broody and some I find rather cruel. The one method is where you collect your hen and put her in a wire cage, hang it off the ground and deprive them of food for a day or 2! I personally wouldn't attempt such drastic measures and have found other successful ways of encouraging them out of their broodiness.
Broody hens prefer a dark, warm and draught free nest so if you can remove at least one of these elements you should be able to get your hen out of its broody phase. I had a hen who decided to nest on the floor of the coop so I built a false floor to allow the cool air to circulate underneath her. After a day of attempting to sit and not being comfortable she gave up and snapped out of her broodiness.
Some can be quite stubborn which I have also experienced in the past. I could
not get this one particular hen out of being broody and after 3 weeks of
sitting she still showed no signs of snapping out of it. She was getting
a bit out of condition due to lack of sunlight and a regular pattern of
eating, drinking and generally being more active. I decided that each day
after the hens had laid their eggs, I'd fill the nest boxes with plant
pots and
a football to prevent her from being able to sit. After a week of doing
this she finally came out of her broodiness.
