Anyone have a broody hen they're willing to sale??

[RideRed93]

I'm curious to know if anyone has a broody hen they're willing to sale? I have a hen that is laying but isn't sitting on her eggs and I don't have an incubator because my intent was to have her hatch them naturally. Anyone??

 

[Megan Amber]

Where do live? I have some but I can't ship them.

 

[RideRed93]

Yeah that would help if I said where I lived; Ogden Utah...

 

[Megan Amber]

Ah Utah! Well I'm all the way over in S.C. Sorry about that. I will keep my eye out though around the forum!

 

[bj taylor]

i'm finding it amazingly hard to find a broody hen. i have the right breeds, but no luck. i was hoping to get a broody, but i'm going to have to buy chicks & raise them. when i find a broody in my flock, i'm guarding her like fort knox - that's assuming i ever get one.

 

[Megan Amber]

What kind of chickens do you guys have? I have cohins and they go broody a whole lot, even more than my silkie! My bantams don't do too bad a job either.

 

[RideRed93]

I have a barred rock and some other chicken. I should post a picture so someone can tell me what breed she is haha. I just lost my Americana aurucana or Easter egger (whatever name they go by ) I was so sad . But my barred rock was the one I hoped to go broody

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Chickens bred for production don't tend to go broody (barred rocks, leghorns, Sexlinks, ect). It does happen, but its not the norm. Get yourself some Cochins (they come in bantam or standard), Silkies, Games or Orpingtons. I've had all these breeds and they were excellent broodies.
Something else to consider is the time of year. I'd imagine its still pretty chilly in Utah. Here in Virginia we're starting to warm up quite a bit. I've had 2 broody Silkies so far. One was recently and the other decided to go for it in the beginning of Feb. Most hens wait until the days are longer and warmer though.
Once you have your broody, hang on to her! People are constantly trying to buy mine! By the way, an incubator is a good investment. It'll give you that chick fix when the hens wont. Mines one of those cheapo styrofoam jobbies from TSC. Not the best money can buy, but it gets the job done- I'm very pleased with it
Nikki

 

[missnu01]

Well you've already been told the info. I was going to get a few cochins to use as incubators, but then I realized that I would have to wait and hope that the chickens would feel inclined to hatch me eggs, and I'm not all that patient. I have a small hen that hatched a brood last fall, and I'm hoping she'll hatch out a few this year, but just in case I got a brinsea 20 eco...it wasn't too expensive I guess...If I can hatch out chicks and sell them it will pay for itself in no time. And I plan to keep hatching and hatching and hatching and only keeping the chicks I like and want to keep..the rest will go. Right now I am on my first hatch, and I was really sad because all my eggs were clear when I candled on day 5, but other people had pictures up of their day 5 candling and there were veins and all kinds of things...but then today on day 8 one egg has veins I can see...the other 9 look like shadows, but they don't look like the eggs in the refrigerator, so I am assuming that everything is going well.

I have a Buff Orpington that just started laying last month or so. And one chick from the last hatch mama hen had laid her first egg yesterday...tiny little thing. I am hoping that mama hen and her offspring will hatch their own.

The buff and mama hen spend the most time in the nest box...they might be in there for a couple hours, but my assumed leghorn white rock mix is in and out..it's like a egg drop drive through...walk in the box squat, lay and leave..the other 2 like to go in and get settled lay an egg and then roll it around a little bit and then resituate, and just when I think one of them is going to set then they get done and wander off...

I also noticed that a lot of the best broodies aren't the best egg layers, cochins, and silkies for example. I mean yeah, they're cute and all, but they don't add a whole lot to the egg basket, and they may or may not set.

The buff Orpingtons are a good hen whether they set or not. Mine lays awesome. Almost everyday around 72 gram eggs. Pretty snazzy. Hard to tell which end is which, but whatever, that's what flashlights are for. I vote get an incubator... You might get a broody breed that never sets, and they won't be much use for anything else either.

 

[AlienChick]

Yeah, it's getting warmer now and I've got six hens that are broody right now.
Four of them are Silkies and two are d'Uccles.
I also have a Black Australorp that goes broody every year.
I'm waiting for her to go broody because she's so large that she can brood way more eggs than my little bantams can.