Why Is My Hen Acting Like a Velociraptor? A Guide to Broody Chickens

What broodiness is, why it happens, and how to handle it (without losing a finger)

If one of your hens has suddenly turned into a flat, puffed-up, hissing little dinosaur who refuses to leave the nesting box, growls when you reach near her, and has straight up stopped laying — congratulations, you've got a broody hen. It's not an illness, it's not bad behavior, and it's definitely not personal. It's just instinct kicking into overdrive.

What "Broody" Actually Means

A broody hen has decided, with her whole chest, that the eggs underneath her (fertilized or not, hers or not) are about to become chicks, and she is not moving until that happens. Her hormones shift, her body temperature rises, and her entire personality changes. Sweet hens turn snippy. Calm hens turn into feathery landmines.

This is normal chicken behavior, especially in spring and summer, and especially in breeds known for going broody easily, like Silkies, Orpingtons, and Cochins.

How to Tell She's Broody (and Not Just Sitting)

Look for:

• Sitting in the nesting box for most of the day and night
• Plucking out her own breast feathers to line the nest
• Puffing up, growling, or pecking when you get close
• Rarely leaving to eat, drink, or dust bathe
• A noticeably flatter, broader stance when sitting

If she's just sitting for a few minutes to lay an egg and then carrying on with her day, that's not broody. Broody means she's committed to that box like it's a mortgage.

Do You Need to Do Anything About It?

That depends on what you want.

If you want chicks and you have a rooster, a broody hen is basically a free, self-running incubator. Let her sit on fertilized eggs and she'll do the rest, including raising the chicks once they hatch.

If you don't want chicks, broodiness is mostly a problem because she'll stop laying, lose body condition, and can become dehydrated or run down if it goes on too long. In that case, it's worth breaking the broodiness.

How to Break a Broody Hen

Helpful approaches:

• Remove eggs from under her promptly, every time
• Physically move her out of the nesting box a few times a day
• Block off access to the nesting boxes temporarily
• Try a wire-bottomed cage or crate for 2-3 days to cool down her body temperature (this disrupts the hormonal cycle that keeps her broody)
• Make sure she's still eating, drinking, and getting time outside

It can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks for broodiness to fully break, depending on the hen.

A Few Things to Watch For

Broody hens barely move, which means they're at higher risk for:

• Dehydration
• Weight loss
• Mites or lice (since they're not dust bathing as often)
• Egg binding or other health issues if she's already run down

If she seems unusually weak, won't get up at all even when removed, or stays broody for several weeks straight, it's worth checking her over or asking a vet experienced with poultry.

Let Her Be a Chicken

Broodiness can be inconvenient, especially if you're relying on daily eggs, but it's also just a hen doing exactly what hens are built to do. Whether you let her hatch a clutch or gently talk her out of it, she'll be back to her normal self before long.

Spring always comes, and so does her next egg.