Broody Business

When a hen goes broody, it means she has decided to sit on a nest of eggs and try to hatch chicks. Some hens are more prone to do this than others. When a hen goes broody, she stops laying and won’t leave her chosen nest box. Often, hens are extra aggressive when broody.

If you have a broody hen, you can leave her alone or let her try to hatch some chicks. There are a lot of old folk tales about how to break a broody hen, but none works. If you don’t want a hen monopolizing a nesting box and don’t want her to hatch any chicks, separate her into a safe place with nothing she can nest inside. Often, the change in location encourages her to stop being broody.