How Long Will A Chicken Stay Broody?
30 Jun
“I know you’ve addressed this topic before but I’d like to know how long a chicken will stay broody. I’ve got one that’s going on six weeks. There’s no roosters. Just eleven hens. I most always let them out to wander the backyard at night for an hour or two before sunset.
I’ve been throwing out the broody hen to get her to exercise. She complains a bit but then goes around and scratches in the dirt like her companions. But the next day she’s back to sitting on the eggs. She even sits after we’ve collected the eggs.” ~ Gershon, Santa Fe, NM
Hi Gershon,
We haven’t addressed breaking a brood in about a year so I think it’s worth taking the time to address again.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term “broody”, it’s when a hen’s natural instincts tell her it’s time to start a family. It doesn’t matter if there is a rooster present or not. She will start collecting a clutch of eggs to incubate and she’ll stay on the nest longer and longer each day.
When her clutch is complete, she’ll stop laying and sit on the eggs for the 21 days it takes to incubate the eggs. It will be another 2 months or so before she’ll start laying again, the time it takes for the chicks to mature enough to care for themselves.
This is wonderful if you want to hatch chicks but if you’re like Gershon, and don’t have a hen, nor do you want to hatch chicks, having hen out of commission is not very convenient.
So Gershon, to specifically answer your question, the length of time a hen will stay broody, if left to herself, will depend upon her breed and how strong the instinct to brood is within the individual chicken. (more…)


































