Broody Hens
Nesting hens should be laying eggs. Whilst they will predominantly lay in the morning, hens will lay eggs at different times. Often the same hens will lay eggs earlier and others later in the day. Time of laying can vary with the seasons, with eggs being laid later each day in winter months. If any hen is spending frequent, unproductive periods inside a nest box, this should be investigated.
Broodiness and behavioural causes
One of the reasons for a hen to sit in the nest for long periods is broodiness. A broody hen will lay a clutch of eggs then stop and sit on them for long periods of time, often at the expense of eating or even drinking. Some hens can become so determined to sit they will even sit on nothing as long as they are in the nest. Often the hen displaying other signs of broodiness, like spending all day nesting, will become very grumpy if you try and move her and show anxiety if you turf her out of the nest, but this is the best action.
Hormonal changes
Broodiness occurs as a result of hormonal changes in the hen, which encourage her nesting behaviour, where she will sit on individual or clutches of eggs to try to incubate them to hatch. The mothering instinct induces by the hormonal changes can explain her altered behaviour in terms of her selfless focus on the eggs, her grumpiness and anxiety and lack of interest in eating or drinking.
Other factors
Broodiness can be initiated if egg collection occurs late in the day or inconsistently or carelessly, with eggs being overlooked. Ideally egg collection should be carried out in the morning and the nest checked again later in the day. It can be the hen at the bottom of the pecking order that is most frequently broody and traditional breeds can be more broody than commercially farmed brown hens. If you detect unusual or persistent nesting by otherwise seemingly healthy hens, it is best to remove them from the nest area. Ideally they should be shut off from the nest area for parts of the day to try to break their behaviour and encourage ranging and foraging, eating and drinking. This may have to be repeated for a number of days. If broody behaviour remains undetected or is not tackled effectively, the hormonal changes can ultimately put the hen out of lay, often for a number of weeks. This is a natural phenomenon.
Hens that have been broody may have lost some bodyweight or condition and may have some feather loss. Thay may benefit from extra feeding or food treats to help this.
Click here to learn how to tell if your hen is in lay.
Click here to learn about causes of hens that are nesting but not laying.
