Question about broody hens

Once a hen has good broody and has succesfully hatched and raised 9 babies will she ever go broody again or is that it? My golden comet's babies are now 6 weeks old. She is still tucking them all under her wings at night to keep them warm. It's getting rather crowded in there. I don't know how she does it. My arms would be exhausted. :) They free range together all over the place and she's good at keeping up with all of them.

I just wondered if they do this over and over again or is it a one time deal. This pic was taken a couple weeks ago. They have grown a lot since then.

As far as I know they continue to lay, hatch and care for their young until they are too old to lay eggs. Others with more experience can probably answer with certainty, I am fairly new to chickens.

Beautiful picture, congrats.

Do you happen to know if they go broody in the winter or just in spring/summer? I'd hate to think of her trying to hatch babies when it's so cold. I really don't want any more babies. We have enough. Maybe put less eggs under her next time.

Silkies are known for being broody and will hatch out any eggs, any time, even duck eggs they say. Other breeds will rarely go broody.

If you don't want more babies, can you keep her eggs picked up so she won't be able to set them, or is she always free ranging where she can hide and you can't find her?

http://hubpages.com/hub/backyardchickensbreedsnest
This site says,
"Golden Comets are not a true breed of chicken but they are a sex linked cross breed. They are specifically designed so that the chicks can be sexed as soon as they hatch. Male Golden Comets are a soft yellow color when they are born and the females are light red in appearance. A cross between a New Hampshire and a White Plymouth rock will give you a Golden Comet bird. This breed has not been given recognition by the Poultry Association. "

Isn't that interesting?

You will be surprised how quickly those babies grow up. Soon, the hens will be laying eggs and the little roosters wanting to fight. Roosters that grow up together are more tolerant of each other, so that's good.

None of her babies are biologically connected to her. We own no roosters. When she went broody and wouldn't get off the nest I felt sorry for her and borrowed some of the neighbor's fertilized eggs. I have no idea who their mother or fathers were. I do know they own a lot of golden comets that I sold to them when I bought too many. I guess if she goes broody we can just let her sit on unfertilized eggs which will never hatch. I will have to think about it. Or, we could try to do the same thing and give away the babies when they're old enough. She's a pretty fierce protector though so we'll play heck getting any of them away from her.

I have no idea how many are roosters or hens. TIme will tell I guess. I love the one little all white one. I sure hope it's a girl.

Maybe she'll be so tired of these 9 babies that she won't want any more. :)

Oh Loon, I remember this story now. :) It's difficult for me to keep up with who is who on here, but yes, I remember about this now.

Maybe you can get some long thick goves to retrieve those eggs.

So are you enjoying the chicks? They are a terrific looking bunch. Congratulations.

Where is everybody? Before we would have had many many comments by now, people have jumped ship. It's a shame because this area had such a nice group of people.

Golden comets are not suppose to go broody and neither are the black sex-*links but look what happened to mine ths spring.She went broody and I had some buff orpingtons comming so I gave her golf balls to sit on so she would stay broody and then when the babies came I went out at night and took the golf balls and put the babies under her and she was so happy the next morning to have babies.I don`t think broodies get broody in the winter time but not sure on that.She was a good mom to,was the golden comet a good mom? The sex-links have the broodyness breed out of them so it is very unusual to see one go broody but it does happen,I have golden comets to,they are great egg layers but are pecky,I`m switching to buff orpintons they are so quiet and tame,not as good at egg laying as the sex-links but are dual purpose eating and laying(not that we eat any of our chickens)

This message was edited Sep 20, 2010 12:53 PM

I have a couple of Buff Orpingtons that go broody at any time of year. I just keep the eggs picked up and take the hens off their nests a couple of times a day until they give up. They make a great fuss but never attack me - other than "verbally".

Yes, she's a good mother. All my hens free range all over our farm. We have 20 acres of woods and 8 acres I mow. They never go past the edge of the woods though. They like to walk all around. The mama and babies go around and round my house. The babies can slip through the picket fence where mama can't go and that drives her nuts. They soon jump back out to be with her though. They get in my flower bed out front and dig for bugs and scratch around. Sometimes she takes them over to the grapes and they go inside eating grapes and bugs. They are fun to watch and we are enjoying them. They love cherry tomatoes. We have about a billion of them this year. :) They also like to peck at and eat the apples that hit the ground.

She's careful to get them inside the barn early so they can get their corner to sleep. She likes to be the first one in with the babies so they don't have to walk past the older hens I guess. All the older hens are good to the babies though. No fighting. All my hens are docile and none will peck or hurt you. Only mama is sort of defensive if you get near her babies but she won't hurt you. She just stiffens up her feathers and makes noise.

We keep baby food inside the barn but the older hens eat it as well as the babies and the babies go out and eat the big girls food. I haven't figured out a way to separate that. Everyone just shares what they have to eat.

I do miss a lot of the people who aren't posting. It's the same for my Michigan forum. It used to be so active and now it's quiet pretty much. Maybe when winter comes and more people are inside there will be more participation.

The squabble is about the new owners, at least partly. More people were involved and hurt than I realized.