Hen Chronicles: When a hen's thoughts turn to chicks

In the chicken world, it’s known as broodiness, or going broody. It occurs when a hen becomes preoccupied with sitting on her eggs to incubate them. A hen can go broody even if there’s no rooster in the flock to fertilize her eggs.

We do not have a rooster, only three hens. We’ve never had an attack of full-blown broodiness, but sometimes “the girls” hint that the thought has crossed their minds.

One day this week, I found Snow sitting in the nest box, which usually means she’s preparing to lay or has just done so. Snow always is cooperative about moving aside in such situations so I can check on what she’s been up to. (Unlike Hope, who will give me a painful peck on the hand if I mess with her in the nest box. I made that mistake only once.)

As soon as I gave Snow a gentle nudge on her right wing, she got up and sauntered off, revealing a fresh egg in the bedding.

I left the egg there for the time being because the weather had turned foul and I wanted to cover the pen with tarps, to keep the rain out and protect the hens from the rising winds. As I did this, Snow, Nellie and Hope stood around in the pen, watching my every move to make sure I did the job properly.

Nellie and Hope remained outside in the pen after I wrapped things up, but by then, Snowy (as we sometimes call her) had disappeared. I found her back in the coop, sitting on her egg once again, as if she had never left it. This time, I removed the egg and brought it back to the house.

When I told my wife about Snowy's behavior, Liz's reaction was predictably concise: “She was just feeling maternal.”