How Many Times A Year Will A Hen Go Broody?

An essential aspect of keeping chickens, and setting your eggs-pectations, is knowing when a hen will go broody (a hen who has entered a hormone-driven state of nesting behavior.) Broody hens will attempt to hatch eggs, become increasingly territorial and aggressive, and reduce their egg-laying activity. So, it’s essential you know when to eggspect it. Here is all you will need to know.

So, how many times a year will a hen go broody? Hens go broody once every year, typically in the spring. However, the time of year they go broody will depend on many factors, including genetics, hormones, and lighting conditions. Some hens go broody in the coldest days of winter, so it’s crucial to know how to identify the behavioral changes of a broody hen.

Unfamiliarity with this behavior can surprise all new chicken keepers, so it is something you are going to want to know all about.

As such, let’s continue to explain how to recognize the signs and timelines of broody hens and give you that expert advice on how to respond to and handle them.

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How Long Do Hens Go Broody For?

Hens remain broody for 21 days, but on some occasions, a hen may stay broody beyond this timeline. If this occurs, you may need to intervene to “break” or stop this behavior before your hen potentially harms herself.

If it’s been over 21 days, your hen has already hatched a clutch of fertile eggs, and she’s still acting broody, there are a few things you can try.

Move Your Broody Hen

Make sure to collect the eggs from your hen’s nesting box and move her out. Encourage her to stay outside with treats, and give her a safe space at night that isn’t her nesting area.

If repeatedly moving her out and removing the eggs doesn’t work, you’ll likely have to restrict her access to the nesting box entirely.

Frozen Water Bottle

Broody hens love a nice, warm nesting area.

Placing a frozen water bottle underneath them in their nesting box can lower body temperature and discourage nesting behavior.

Your hen is stronger than you think, so if you use an ice pack instead of a water bottle, ensure it’s hardy enough to withstand a lot of pecking from a disgruntled hen.

Remove Nesting Area

When all else fails, you can remove the nesting area altogether.

Broody hens often pluck their own feathers out of their tummy to contribute to the nest and continue this behavior while broody, which can be dangerous for extended periods.

Discouraging a broody hen means making her nesting area as uncomfortable as possible, helping her to move on until next year!

Factors That Impact Broodiness in Hens

Much like people, no two hens are alike.

Some factors can impact how long and when a hen will go broody, and having a firm grasp on them can help you help your hen when they’re in a broody state.

Age

First, the age of a hen can affect when they go broody.

Most hens reach the broody stage when they’re full-size, anywhere between five and eight months old.

Older hens may stop broodiness later in life, so age can play a factor. Also, hen owners need to know that some hens never go broody.

Health

Your hen’s health, which sometimes has something to do with age, can affect her broodiness.

Healthy hens will go broody once yearly, usually when the weather gets warm.

Hen health ties in tightly with hormone health, which can also change with age. If hormone levels are off, broodiness may be extended or not come at all.

Lighting

Lighting conditions could affect your hen’s broodiness, as they become broody as the days get longer.

Taking control over the lighting in your coop or hen house could help you better predict when to expect broodiness from your hens.

Weather

The weather may influence when your hens go broody, but this isn’t always the case.

While most hens start to experience broodiness in the spring, some can become broody in the dead of winter.

How To Tell If A Hen Is Broody

Signs of a broody hen include sitting on a nest or clucking loudly and frequently.

Hens may also puff out their feathers and become agitated when disturbed or ushered out of their nests.

There are additional signals that your hen may send you when she’s feeling broody, including the following.

Growling and pecking when you attempt to remove her from her nesting box;
Running directly back to the box if you’ve somehow managed to extract her or encourage her to come out;
Plucking out chest and belly feathers;
Nesting when there are no eggs;
Broody poop, which is larger-than-normal chicken poop;
Eating and drinking very little.

So, you can see by these symptoms alone how important it is to help a hen break the broody cycle when they’ve gone far beyond the typical length.

Do Hens Go Broody Without A Rooster?

Hens can go broody without a rooster present. In fact, it is a natural breeding behavior for hens to want to incubate and hatch eggs, even if there is no rooster to fertilize them.

However, if a rooster did not previously fertilize the eggs, then the chicks will not hatch.

Flocks of hens without a rooster are another reason many chicken owners choose to help them stop feeling broody if they don’t (or can’t) do it on their own.

It’s super important to note that many hens can go broody for weeks on end, meaning they will stop laying eggs during this time.

Therefore, if you rely on your hens to produce eggs, it is best to avoid broody hens as much as possible.

What To Do When A Hen Is Broody?

If your hen is broody, and you want a new batch of chickens to add to your flock, you can let her remain broody! On the other hand, if you want to avoid adding new chickens to your flock, you’ll want to try and break your hen from her broodiness as quickly as possible.

Broody hens will cluck softly to their eggs not long before they hatch, giving you a good idea of when to expect new chicks.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid adding new chickens to your flock, you’ll want to try and break your hen from her broodiness as quickly as possible.

You can use the methods mentioned above, but it’s crucial to remain humane and not cause your already stressed out, brooding hen any additional stress.

Speaking with your veterinarian or an avian expert is the best option for solid advice on how to break a broody hen, mainly because the situation can differ on a chicken-to-chicken basis.

Professional input is vital because you want what’s best for your chickens.

To reiterate, to break a hen’s broody cycle, you can remove her from the nest, isolate her from the flock for a few days, move her to a different location, or offer her an icy cold bath or water bottle.

You should attempt all methods under skilled guidance only.

Understanding Broodiness Results in Successful Chicken Keeping

Once you know when a hen will go broody, you can better plan for the future of your flock.

For example, if you need to have a new little collection of chicks in your flock each year, you should ensure that at least one of your hens is broody so she can care for the eggs and hatch them.

If you don’t want any new chickens and are focusing on egg-laying, then it’s essential to know when a hen is going broody so you can stop her from doing so and keep her focused on producing eggs.

Either way, there are effective ways to deal with a broody hen, and it all starts with knowing what to expect and when to expect it!