For those who don’t aim to make a living from farming, owning a form of livestock can still be a source of satisfaction, as it helps buttress the family in time of economic hardship. And it can be a way to provide sustenance and useful labor. Of the varieties of option out there, chickens are a popular and useful choice. It is important to realize, however, that a chicken’s usable number of years is on the short side. The window gets even narrower when one is talking about egg-laying capacity, or mothering instincts. These traits fall under the umbrella term of broodiness, for hens, more specifically it refers to a hen’s willingness to sit on a nest. You want a broody hen. It’s not the sort of thing you can instill if its not there.
Interestingly, though many buyers may be thinking they should get young hens, because of the short number of viable hen years, the best broody years for hens are the years around 3-6. Older moms do it best, when it comes to chickens. Other considerations, assuming you want hens that will fill in and cover eggs they did not lay, you want to pick from breeds that are not low on the broody scale. Keep in mind that, though, that you may wish to avoid layers that are listed as persistently broody, that is they stubbornly go on being broody and won’t break off, or easily stop the behavior, as needed.
Key Takeaways:
- Broodiness in hens, refers to a hen’s willingness to sit on a nest.
- Hens that make successful mothers are usually older hens of at least 3+ years of age.
- Your best bet in finding a good broody chicken rests within the narrow window of 4-6 years of age, for hens.
“If you want a laying flock to periodically reproduce or serve as surrogates, avoid breeds listed as “low” and “no/almost never” for broodiness.”
Read more: http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2018/08/14/raising-chickens-breeding-resilience-with-broody-hens/