Broody Hen 101: Troubleshooting a Broody Hen
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | June 13, 2023
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A broody hen can be a great asset to the homestead flock! When a hen goes broody, she wants to set on a clutch of eggs to hatch chicks. This can be a great way to replenish your flock naturally, especially if you already have a rooster running with your hens to get fertile eggs. A broody hen will do all the work for you. She will maintain the proper temperature and humidity during incubation and hatching, then raise the chicks after they hatch, ensuring they are warm, fed, and healthy. Broody hens are fairly self-sufficient. However, some circumstances may have you scratching your head and wondering if you should step in to help. This Broody Hen 101 guide should help answer all your questions about broody hens!
Broody Hen 101
Like I mentioned earlier, a broody hen is a hen who wants to set on a clutch of eggs to hatch chicks. Hens most often go broody during the spring. The warmer weather and longer daylight hours trigger the natural instinct to brood and raise young.
You can tell if a hen is broody by looking for characteristic behavior’s such as protectiveness in the nesting boxes, broody poops, and a broody patch on the hen’s chest. Make sure you check out How to Tell if a Hen Will Hatch Eggs for more ways to identify a broody hen!
Once you’ve determined that you have a broody hen, you will need to decide if you will let her be broody or if you should break her of her broodiness. If you don’t have fertile eggs for her to set on or if it is an inconvenient timing for raising chicks (fall or winter), you will want to discourage the hen from being broody for the sake of her health.
But…. if you do have fertile eggs, then letting a broody hen incubate and hatch chicks can be so much fun on the homestead! If you decide to let a broody hen set on a nest, you will need to prepare a brooding area for her. This post on How to Care for a Broody Hen covers setting up a brooding pen, daily broody hen care, and pre-hatch, hatch day, and after-hatch care!
Troubleshooting a Broody Hen
Now that you have resources for learning how to stop a hen from being broody, how to tell if a broody hen will really set on a nest, and how to care for a broody hen… let’s go over some troubleshooting questions you may have about broody hens!
Reliable broody hens are the best when it comes to hatching eggs. They can often get better hatch rates than any incubator and are experts at raising a healthy brood. Chicks raised by a broody hen rarely have pasty butt problems. A mother hen is also the best source of supplemental heat for chicks. However, sometimes first-time broody hens may not follow the usual protocol for incubating eggs.
Hopefully these broody hen questions and answers will help you troubleshoot any issues you might have when using a broody hen on the homestead!
Why is my broody hen eating her eggs?
While I have only had this happen once (with a first-time broody Buff Orpington hen), it is an issue that you may occasionally come across. Quite frankly, I don’t know why my hen ate some of the eggs in her clutch. She ate two eggs sometime between day 1 and day 5 of incubation. Then she ate 2 more eggs between days 5 and 14 of incubation.
My one guess would be that she knew they weren’t developing so she wanted to rid them from the nest. Normally, a broody hen will incubate all her eggs then just leave whatever eggs don’t hatch behind in the nest.
Another theory I had was that she was so determined to stay on her nest that she started eating her eggs for sustenance instead of getting off to eat and drink. She was a first-time broody hen so maybe she didn’t quite know the ropes of incubating and that it is okay for a hen to leave the nest periodically.
If you are having an issue with a broody hen eating her eggs, you may choose to incubate the eggs yourself or just wait and see what happens. After the second egg-eating incident, I candled the remaining eggs and marked one egg that wasn’t developing. However, she didn’t eat any more eggs after that so I couldn’t prove the theory that she ate non-developing eggs.
What happens if a broody hen poops on her nest?
Normally, a broody hen will hold in her poop until she gets off her nest to eat and drink. Her natural instincts are to not dirty the nest. However, there can be instances where a broody hen poops on her nest or near enough to her nest that some of the eggs get dirty.
If you have done any research on using an incubator to hatch eggs, you know that keeping a clean environment for incubating is important. The warm, humid incubating conditions can encourage bacteria to grow. Bacteria can ruin an entire hatch if an egg goes rotten. Setting clean eggs and keeping a clean incubator can help prevent bacteria from killing developing embryos or spoiling the eggs.
So, when a broody hen is setting on poopy eggs, what should you do? I usually do nothing. I clean out as much of the broody poop as possible without disturbing the nest too much. Avoid cleaning or washing the eggs. Washed eggs loose their protective bloom that naturally inhibits some bacteria from entering the egg. I have had a broody hen still get a 90% hatch rate from a dirty nest.
I don’t how they do it, but broody hens can somehow still get good hatch rates from a dirty nest without having rotten or dead embryos.
What to do when a broody hen rejects her chicks.
A reliable broody hen will set on her eggs all the way through incubation. She should then devote herself to caring for her brood once they hatch. However, you may occasionally have a hen who incubates her clutch but then rejects her chicks once they hatch.
If that happens you will need to set up a chick brooder and care for the chicks yourself. Let the broody hen return to the homestead flock while you raise her chicks. Make sure you check out this post on How to Set up a Brooder for Chicks so you can be prepared incase you need to raise mama hen’s brood for her!
If the broody hen is still devoted to her nest even after the chicks have hatched, you may be able to trick her into accepting the chicks again by slipping them under her at night. However, make sure you are there first thing in the morning to see if she has accepted the chicks or not. If she rejects them again, you should raise them yourself.
Why does a broody hen leave her nest?
It is natural for a broody hen to leave her nest periodically throughout incubation. She needs to get off the nest to eat, drink, and relieve herself. If she doesn’t get off the nest, she will slowly drain her energy reserves and become dehydrated.
A broody hen will usually sit tight on her nest for the first day or two incubation. She will want to get the eggs developing and maintain a proper incubating temperature and humidity. After day two or three, she will probably leave the nest to eat, drink, and go the bathroom. If given the opportunity, she may go take a dust bath. Then she will return to the nest to resume incubating the eggs. A broody hen may leave her nest once every day or every other day throughout the remainder of the incubation time.
If a broody hen leaves her nest permanently mid-incubation, you will need to jump into action quickly to save the eggs that are developing. Set up an incubator, candle the eggs in the nest, and put any developing eggs in the incubator. However, don’t jump to the conclusion too soon that a hen has abandoned her nest. A hen may take up to a 20 minute break before returning to her nest.
Can a Broody Hen Brood in Cold Weather?
Hens go broody in the spring and summer since those are the ideal times to incubate eggs and raise chicks. A broody hen should not be allowed to brood during cold weather. She needs to focus her energy on staying warm and not incubating eggs. However, sometimes early springtime weather can be chilly.
Ideally, have the brooding area in a temperate (55-70°F) location. The area shouldn’t fluctuate in temperature too much during the day and night. However, if keeping the temperatures temperate in the brooding area is not possible, a broody hen can care for her clutch during occasional cold nights. Don’t let the brooding area get below freezing. If necessary, set up a small space heater to keep the temperature above 40°F in the brooding area.
If you anticipate prolonged cold temperatures, consider moving the brooding area into a more temperate location. A broody hen may not want to leave her nest if the ambient temperatures are too cold. Cold temperatures would cause her eggs to chill faster when she leaves the nest.
However, you also don’t want the brooding area to get too hot. A broody hen may leave her nest if she gets too hot. Hot temperatures can also kill developing embryos faster than cold temperatures. Ideally, don’t let the brooding area get above 75°F.
What should I do if the hen leaves the nest while the eggs are still hatching?
Normally, a broody hen will not move off her nest during the last three days of incubation. That is the time which we call ‘lockdown’ when using an incubator. However, sometimes a hen will leave the nest during that time to get food, water, or relieve herself. Don’t panic if the hen leaves the nest during lockdown!
As usual, broody hens know how to best care for their eggs. If she decides she can leave the nest to get nourishment, then that’s fine with me. I have had a hen leave the nest the morning of hatch day. I could see no pips in the eggs. Later that afternoon, I heard cheeping from under her. She ended up getting 9 chicks out of her clutch of 10 eggs.
However, you may want to step in if a broody hen leaves the nest while chicks are actively hatching. A hen may leave the nest while chicks are hatching if she thinks that all of her eggs have hatched. She may want to lead the hatched chicks to food and water.
I like to wait until after I’m pretty sure all of the broody hen’s eggs have hatched before placing a feeder in the brooding area. That way mama hen isn’t tempted to leave the nest while her eggs are still hatching. It helps to make the brooding area smaller during hatching time. Then provide more space and even access to the outdoors after hatching is over.
If a hen does leave her nest during hatch time, encourage her to return to the nest by removing or blocking access to whatever drew her off the nest… whether it be food, treats, or the urge to go outside a little pre-maturely.
Why isn’t my broody hen getting off her nest?
Normally you shouldn’t be concerned if you don’t see your broody hen get off her nest. Sometimes they just make a quick trip off the nest when you are not watching. However, you can usually tell if a hen has taken a break by noticing if her food or water has been eaten or drank or by the presence of a very stinky broody poop.
The only time you should be concerned for a broody hen who hasn’t left the nest is during the first few days of incubation. If it gets to be day 3 or 4 and you notice the hen hasn’t left her nest to get food, water, or go the bathroom, then you may need to encourage her a little.
Gently lift the hen off her nest and place her by the food and water. Sprinkle some healthy treats, like dried grubs or scratch grains, in her food to encourage her to eat before she returns to her nest. Sometimes first-time broody hens need a little encouragement to leave their nest for nourishment.
Keep an eye on the hen for the next few days to see if she leaves the nest on her own. If she doesn’t, you may need to encourage her to get off the nest again. It is important for a broody hen to stay nourished in order to have the energy to properly incubate her eggs.
Can a broody hen be kept with other chickens?
Yes, a broody hen can (and will) set on a clutch within the chicken coop. However, sometimes other hens will try to bully the hen off her nest or keep laying eggs in her nest. If eggs keep getting added to the clutch, they won’t all be on the same incubation and hatching schedule. If the nest is raised off the ground, the hatched chicks won’t be able to leave the nest without falling out.
The benefit to letting a broody hen incubate and hatch chicks within the flock is the chicks and mother hen won’t need to be re-integrated into the flock. Chicks who are hatched separate from the flock will need to be integrated into the flock once they are old enough.
Ideally, a broody hen should be moved to a separate brooding area before you give her a clutch of eggs. This is a great way to test the broody hen to see if she will be devoted to setting on eggs even when moved to a different location.
A good compromise would be to set up a separate pen within the coop. The pen should allow the broody hen to be by herself but the other chickens can still see her. Make sure the pen has food and water for the broody hen. The other chickens should also not be able to fly into the pen.
When is a broody hen done with her chicks?
Chicks need mama hen for at least the first 4 weeks of their life. She is their source of heat. She also teaches them essential chicken ‘life skills’ like foraging, dust bathing, roosting, and when to be on the lookout for predators. A mother hen is devoted to her brood, and she will be a little confused if you take away her chicks.
Chicks will start being more independent around 6-8 weeks of age. They may still look to mama hen for comfort and protection. However, they will start wandering off on their own and they shouldn’t need supplemental heat. Mama hen may also start to get fed-up with her growing brood and begin hanging out with the flock more if given the chance.
You can try to integrate the broody hen and her brood into the flock at this point. The chicks won’t be the same size as the adult chickens, but mama hen may protect them enough to make integration possible. If the youngsters aren’t integrating well, you will have to finish raising them yourself until they are old enough to join the flock.
Will a broody hen set on other eggs besides chicken eggs?
Yes, a devoted broody hen will readily set on any eggs you give her. The most common eggs to give a broody hen are chicken eggs or duck eggs. Both eggs have similar incubation needs that a broody hen can easily provide. A broody hen will happily raise a brood of ducklings, but she probably won’t join them on their swimming forays!
Giving a hen smaller eggs (like quail or pheasant) or larger eggs (like goose) can be done, but the broody hen may not adapt enough to meet the needs of incubating larger or smaller eggs. She may also be more likely to reject the hatchlings if they are smaller or different.
Hopefully these troubleshooting questions and answers should make you more confident about using a broody hen on your homestead! A broody hen is truly amazing to watch as she incubates the eggs for 3 weeks straight then raises and teaches the young chicks. I love letting a broody hen do all the work of incubating and raising chicks since she does a much better job at it then I could ever do! Letting a broody hen hatch out chicks for you is a great way to raise your homestead flock like a modern pioneer!
Have more broody hen questions? Feel free to reach out in the comments! Or join our modern pioneer newsletter and drop us an email with your questions!
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