What chickens are the most broody?

[buff goose guy]

I've been wondering for a long time about this and get so many multiple answers.

So I'm just wondering what bantams and medium sized chickens are the most broody ?

 

[mightymax]

Practical. Proper. Natural. Sounds like an ad for constipation relief! Thank goodness my girls can't see that or they'd be blinded for life! And you don't need to fly when you're this sweet, because no one out there wants you to leave!

 

[Stiggy]

I agree Silkies make great mothers, and I too have seen them go away and come back with more chicks from a different hen. When broody mine will get up off the nest if an egg is laid and roll it back to her brood just to add more, much to the confused hens confusion as to where the egg went . ( Silkies are seriously sneaky about stealing eggs and chicks when broody....)

Last season I had one go broody 3 times and twice she raised chicks, after the second batch I had to break her broodiness because it was taking a toll on her and I wanted her to have some summer fun rather than just sit and hatch lol. Silkies cannot fly and need good weather protection as their feathers are like human hair and matt to their skin where they get cold and sick easily so if you get them then you will need somewhere dry for them to go. Silkies are also great characters with quirky personalities

 

[Stiggy]

If you don't intend to show the silkie then you can just trim off the head feathers which is kinda like giving them a buzz cut. Then they can see better and their heads don't get sticky feathers

 

[Suzie]

Number One....Silkies!!! Amazing broodies..once every three months..like clockwork...adorable, friendly and incredibly loving....

Just my opinion....

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Silkies are top! Cochins, orpingtons, australorps, millie fleur d'uccles and sometimes EEs are all broody breeds.

 

[buff goose guy]

Thanks I love the Millie ones they seem nice and do you know if they can fly at all

 

[buff goose guy]

Any more ?

 

[mightymax]

I'll second that 'silkies are top' response !!! Most chickens that you can get at feed stores, swaps, auctions and even from some breeders, have been bred to 'perform' (not to 'conform', as in the Standards of Perfection). Unfortunately, while massive egg laying was being bred in to a majority of chickens, broodiness, or the ability of a hen to set her eggs, was being bred out of all but a handful of breeds. One of those breeds being the bantam silkie. My splash hen Riley Roo (and no, she doesn't look like a rooster, her name's Riley Roo because it just kinda rolled out my mouth one day and it stuck). Anyway, my reason for choosing silkies as the best of the best for broodiness, is that they'll hatch anything. They don't care. I've seen them set golf balls before (although they never hatched, of course)...lol !!! And when their little chicks are up and running all around, my silkie mamas have always been the one to sound the bell when recess is over and round up all the chicks back to the nest. Oftentimes she'll come back with extras...other hens' chicks that, for one reason or another, are no longer with their original parent. Instead, they've moved on in with Riley Roo and she'll take over the raising of them as if they were her own (because now she believes that
they always have been) !!! Just my thoughts on why I think silkies are the best broodys, IMO !!!

 

[tobit]

My pekin bantam/cochin bantams hatched around January time, I only have 3 pullets and they have been going broody all spring and summer, I'd break them and another would start and that keeps on going!! They're also a lot more practical than silkies with proper feathers and I think a lot more natural - they can also use their eyes unlike silkies, not to mention fly! And are my sweetest birds!