Most Backyard Chickens Were Never Meant To Go Broody

If you've spent any time in online poultry groups, you've probably seen people asking how to stop a broody hen. The advice usually comes quickly: put her in a wire-bottom cage, cool her down, and get her back to laying eggs as soon as possible.

While there are certainly times when broodiness becomes a problem, I've noticed something interesting over the years: many poultry keepers have never experienced a truly broody chicken. In fact, most modern backyard chickens were never really meant to go broody in the first place.

For generations, commercial breeding programs focused on egg production. A hen sitting on a nest for three weeks isn't laying eggs, so broodiness became an undesirable trait. Breeders selected heavily for production and against maternal behavior. The result is that many popular backyard breeds today will lay hundreds of eggs per year but rarely show the strong broody instincts that were once common in farm flocks.

That creates an interesting disconnect in the poultry world. Many people assume broodiness is a problem because they've only seen it occasionally. Meanwhile, breeders working with heritage lines, Orpingtons, Cochins, Silkies, and other traditional breeds often deal with hens that seem determined to raise babies every chance they get.

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I fall into the second category.

At Bryant's Roost, broodiness isn't always something I fight. In many situations, it's actually a management tool.

Every chick hatched naturally under a hen is one less chick I have to brood myself. That's one less brooder to clean, one less heat plate to manage, and one less group of babies that needs constant monitoring. A good broody hen handles temperature regulation, teaches chicks how to eat and drink, and provides protection that no brooder setup can fully replicate.

Nature has been running successful hatcheries long before incubators existed.

Research supports the remarkable changes that occur when a hen goes broody. The hormone prolactin increases significantly during broodiness. This hormone suppresses egg production while promoting nesting behavior and maternal instincts. As prolactin rises, hens become more focused on incubating eggs and less interested in normal flock activities.

Their entire physiology shifts toward reproduction and chick rearing.

A broody hen will often spend more than 90% of her day on the nest. She eats less, drinks less, and may lose body weight during the incubation period. Studies have documented these behavioral and physiological changes across multiple poultry species. What looks like stubbornness to the poultry keeper is actually a complex hormonal process designed to maximize the survival of offspring.

This is one reason breaking a determined broody can sometimes feel difficult. You're not simply changing a behavior. You're working against a powerful biological drive.

That doesn't mean broodiness should always be encouraged.

In some breeding programs, especially where egg production is the primary goal, repeated broodiness can significantly reduce the number of eggs collected throughout the year. A hen that spends several weeks broody, followed by raising chicks, may contribute far fewer eggs than a non-broody counterpart.

There are also health considerations. Broody hens often lose weight because they leave the nest infrequently. During hot weather, dehydration can become a concern. If a hen insists on sitting on an empty nest for weeks on end, intervention may be necessary.

The key is understanding your goals.

If your objective is maximum egg production, broodiness may be something you actively manage and reduce.

If your goal is producing replacement birds, reducing labor, or maintaining traditional breeding stock, a reliable broody hen can be one of the most valuable birds in the flock.

I've reached a point where I look at broodiness differently than I did years ago. Instead of seeing it as a nuisance, I often see it as free labor. A good broody hen is an incubator, hatcher, brooder, teacher, and security system all rolled into one feathered package.

Not every hen has that instinct anymore. In fact, many modern backyard chickens were bred specifically to avoid it.

But when you find a hen that still possesses those strong maternal traits, it may be worth asking whether she really needs to be "fixed" at all.

Sometimes the hen is simply doing exactly what chickens were designed to do.

Jennifer Bryant is a poultry breeder, educator, and homesteader at Bryant's Roost in Tennessee. Through her breeding programs, educational content, and the Poultry Nerds Podcast, she helps families raise poultry for meat, eggs, and self-sufficiency.