[orionsquare]

I have a speckled rock hen which is supposed to be an egg machine. The farm she came from seems to think that hybrid hens are bred to produce eggs and are highly likely not to be broody....

I discovered today that my hybrid hen is broody! :blink:

Since Sunday, she stayed in the nest box all day and fluffs up her feathers at me when I approach her and she lets out a shrill call. At first I thought she was ill. This afternoon, she showed the same signs of not wanting to leave the nesting box. I lifted her out of the coop from the nest box, I found her sitting on 2 eggs one of which clearly isn't hers but the creme legbar's. When out of the box, she stood on the ground, her wings hanging down as if she is trying to protect some invisible chicks under her. 

I made her come out to eat her pellets and drink some water but it was not long before she scuttles back into the coop.

I think it's adorable but I do feel sorry for her as she is yearning for chicks! She got upset with me when I took the eggs she had been sitting on away! 

[Lindeggs]

I have a speckled rock hen which is supposed to be an egg machine. The farm she came from seems to think that hybrid hens are bred to produce eggs and are highly likely not to be broody....

That's right!  This is definitely the way hybrid hens are 'designed' so they really aren't supposed to go broody.  But, as you've discovered, sometimes nature ignores all our best plans!

What are you going to do with her?  Will you give her some eggs to hatch, or break her broodiness?  If you want to discourage her from sitting, the sooner you do it the better.  Once she becomes very determined you might have a bit of a struggle on your hands.

Isn't nature wonderful? 

[Helenaj]

I've had two Speckledys and a Blackrock go broody on me and no amount of "you're not supposed to" made any difference! I managed to break two of them but one Speckledy would not break and after a couple of weeks I put Gold Brahma eggs under her which she duly hatched. One thing though - she made a terrible Mum and I ended up fostering her chicks under another broody (a Barnevelder) who made a terrific Mum.

You may need to consider that before putting eggs under her unless you have brooding facilities for the chicks as she may decide that motherhood is not for her as soon as they are hatched.

As Lindeggs says Nature's a wonderful thing!

[sneezer]

My ex-free range hen went broody this spring, her chosen nest was a bush, and each time I lifted her out she made such a noise and then the other hen kept attacking her to get back to her nest!!This only lasted a week then she stopped. I thought it was lovely that she still had the natural instinct, she now has 3 young hens to look after!

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

One of my original hybrids went broody last summer.  I put some eggs under her and she wasn't the best mum ever - broke half the eggs before they hatched - but to be fair she is a big hefty girl.  She did hatch two chicks and wasn't too bad a mum but after 5 weeks she'd had enough and legged it back to the rest of the flock.

Interestingly she didn't go broody this year so she must have decided once was enough for her!

[francais]

I have 3 hybrids and 6 "pure-breeds" Can you guess which ones I have only ever had go broody on me? Yep! Hybrids! Infact the hybrid "mummy" hatched 5 of the pure-breeds (I only kept 2 though).

[orionsquare]

Thanks for the insight. The posts made me smile.

I checked my hybrid hen this evening and yep she's still broody all fluffed up and letting a shrill call when I approach her. She warmed 2 eggs nicely, so warm it felt almost like half-boiled eggs but I alas she was not happy when took them away from her (again).

She's been transferred to another hen house where I can keep an eye on her to check that she is eating and drinking ok.

[storme37]

papys so grumpy  lol