EGG PRODUCTION 153 



BROODINESS IS CHARACTERISTIC 



of hens of the so-called general purpose breeds. 

 It is not necessarily dependent upon the condition 

 of the hens nor is it certainly dependent upon the 

 method of feeding, though both of these may have 

 some influence. It is a popular notion that fat hens 

 become broody because of their fat. This is not 

 necessarily so, though it is a fact that hens fed 

 liberally on grain often do go broody, but so they 

 do without just as often. It may be taken as 

 axiomatic that hens will go broody when they want 

 to, whether fat or lean. Occasionally it is reported 

 that a hen dies on the nest and the poultryman asks 

 why. Investigation generally shows that these 

 hens were sick before they started to sit. Such 

 hens should not be given an opportunity to sit. 

 Their condition should be noted by the poultryman 

 and they should be brought back to health by 

 rational management. 



Hens kept mainly for producing eggs often annoy 

 the poultryman by persistent broodiness. They 

 should, therefore, be culled out and never used for 

 breeders. In otherwise normal hens, broodiness 

 may be broken when necessary. It is, however, 

 usually an advantage to allow the hens to hatch 

 broods, since this gives them a rest from laying. 

 Hens of the general purpose varieties usually lay 

 better during the molt than hens of the noted egg 

 breeds. These egg layers generally take a long 

 rest, the sitters two or three short ones. In order 

 to break up broodiness, one of the quickest ways 

 is to confine the hens with a reserve male in a pen 

 where there are no nests. While so confined, the 

 hens should be fed well on an egg ration. This 



