Very disappointed in Chickens…

[AJMD429]

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For the first time ever 20 years or so of having chickens, we actually seemed to have a broody hen and a chance of hatching baby chickens. So we quit taking eggs from that particular nest box, and we were on about the third week of her sitting on the eggs, when the lightbulb in the coop went out for just one night. I replaced it the very next day, but evidently that was enough disturbance the mom decided to abandon 16 eggs.

I guess we have pretty much completely bred out the necessity of chickens to do anything constructive to procreate.

[GunnyMack]

Chickens aren't that smart to begin with as we all know, I wouldn't think a bulb going out would be enough to make her leave the nest but that her instinct alone would be enough.
But what do I know, I don't eat chicken but ill eat their kids.

[gcs]

Must not have been a buff Orpington, those things go broody for the long haul, lol

[FLINT]

Hmm, strange. I responded earlier, but my response isn't here.

I said that my experience with chickens was much different. I regularly had hens that would try to go broody and sit on eggs and I'd have to spray them with a water bottle every day to snap them out of it.

What kind of chickens do you have? Some breeds are much less likely to go broody. It seemed like Brahama chickens would frequently go broody and I also had a couple buff orpingtons want to sit.

I think the breeds that were developed specifically for laying like Rhode island reds and leghorns and those specialty layer cross breeds might be less likely to sit. Try some heritage breeds if you want chickens to sit on eggs.

Also, there are a couple other things you can try. Make sure you have enough egg boxes so that other hens don't boot the broody hen out of the box. or you could move one box over to an out of the way location, or tack a flap of denim or burlap or something over a laying box to make a hen feel more secure and private.

[AJMD429]

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Mixed birds but the one broody was a black orphington.

I guess the dogs will enjoy the treats...

[EG73]

What’s the light bulb for?

[Bill in Oregon]

Loved our buff Orpingtons. Friendly toots, too.

[AJMD429]

What’s the light bulb for?

They quit laying eggs in the winter so we use light to make the days seem longer to them.

[EG73]

What’s the light bulb for?

They quit laying eggs in the winter so we use light to make the days seem longer to them.

Ah makes sense. Hit autumn here and the temps are dropping so our girls are moulting and slowed right down on eggs too.