Fall Broody Hen – Our First Experience
Back in October, one of our Buff Orpington hens went broody. Going broody means a hen wants to sit on (incubate) eggs. This was our first experience with a fall broody hen and we were concerned how the colder temperatures would affect the process. She did an amazing job sitting on her nest and hatched 4 of the 6 eggs just before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, she immediately took the chicks out of the hen house and into the cold November weather. 3 of the 4 chicks perished within 2 days.
However, one chick was still going strong! At the time of this picture, he was 3 weeks old. After the first week, he was able to climb up the chicken ladder and into their house independently (for the first week, I was catching him every evening and putting him in their house). I was amazed at how much he acted like a mature chicken. He came running for table scraps and scratch with the other chickens. While at first I attempted to provide chick feed and a chick waterer, I found it more problematic than helpful, as mama hen took care of his nutritional needs. I did put a brick under the water bucket so he could reach a cup independently. Surprisingly, he spent much of the time un-heated, especially when the sun was out. Though, mom paid attention to his chirps and would fluff her feathers over him to give him warmth as needed.
Unfortunately, when this chick was about 6 weeks, he met an untimely demise. He was able to fit through the chain link fence for their extended daytime run. He found he could get better forage this way. A predator must have also noticed, because one evening when we went to put the chickens away, he was missing.
A Mother Hen: When Does Laying Resume?
Bringing the story full circle, our fall broody hen ended up finally laying eggs again by the end of January. Therefore, she took approximately 3 months to brood, regain her condition, and to be able to lay again. While our experience with a fall broody hen was not optimal, this experience has us looking forward to spring with hopes that some of our other hens will go broody and we will have more favorable results.