[jinty1911]

Grace has decided to be broody again!! She only started laying again 3 weeks ago after the last broodiness. Yesterday afternoon I noticed she was spending a long time in the nest box.  No egg this morning and she refused to budge when I opened the house.  Hooked her out and she went straight back in.  So I shut house and suppose she settled underneath the house while I was at work.  Nest box is now blocked off and she is on the floor.  I now expect the other 2 to follow suit again as they did the last time.   So it seems it's going to be 3 weeks broody, 3 weeks wait for eggs, 3 weeks laying and off we go again.    I am not really bothered about the lack of eggs, it's the starvation diet they seem to go on and weight loss.  Also I have been giving them porrige this week and read somewhere that oats heat chickens up, so is this the wrong thing to feed a silly desperate to be a mum chicken?
Jinty

[daisy1990]

I think warm porridge can no more heat hens up than ready brek can heat up children!  Despite this I do sometimes make some for my girls but then I am soft in the head with them!

[Springlands]

Jinty - we have one hen who has not laid an egg since June and she still gets broody. Do not know what goes on in their little bird brains.

[jinty1911]

Aye they are silly girls.  They are only 32 weeks old but I suppose once the hormones kick in there's not much I can do about it, especially in this weather. What breed is your  broody chook?  Mine are Silky x Light Sussex (so I suppose they were always going to be broody but didn't think at this time of year).  Might advertise their services next Spring   
Jinty

[Springlands]

Must admit that I do not know what breed they are - basically got the hens as layers. But next spring we are going to get some more and this time will go for some nice looking ones as well.

[jinty1911]

Mine are very pretty which is why I got them.  They are also very friendly (or should I say greedy) but broody broody broody  :blink:  :blink:
Jinty

[henamoured]

Rather than oat porridge have you tried pellet porridge? I've been doing this for mine and they eat it all by about 10 (got ordinary pellets too) and are looking pretty good on it at the mo. Sometimes I put a handful of oats in too.

[Beano]

I have one that spends half her life broody. She's broody at the moment, fourth time this year. I suppose it's handy in this freezing weather to have a "hot water bottle" for the others to cwtch up to at night and to keep the eggs from freezing. She's also broody for a heck of a long time in one go, around 6/9 weeks. When she gets broody again in the Spring I am tempted to put some eggs under her, just to see how good a mum she is.

[themagicaltoad1]

I have one that seems to follow the same cycle as Grace. She lays for 3 weeks then goes broody for 7 weeks, takes a couple of weeks to recover then lays for 3 weeks before starting all over again, and the other 2 older girls quickly follow suit but at least they snap out of it a bit quicker. I hatched some chicks of a different breed in the spring and they are completely different, even in this cold weather I'm getting an egg a day off them.

[jinty1911]

We have got some nice thick wire mesh that I am thinking off putting on floor of house to make it uncomfortable for Grace to sit on, but hubby is away til next week so it will have to wait till he comes back by which time Cilla will be broody again.    
Jinty