best broody hens besides cochins,game hens , and silkies

[Jennings Gamefowl]

i have only once had a hen game hen go broody.. I bought a bator and some buff orp eggs so i will see how that goes and so far ok but i would rather let a broody do the work for me, so which hens are the best broody besides cochins, game hens, and silkies???? Are there any heavy set hens that will go broody??

 

[77horses]

Usually Cochins, game hens, Silkies, Buff orps, and some other breeds will go broody. But some may not. Some breeds(such as Red Stars, RIRs, etc.) have had the broody instinct bred out of them after years of breeding...instead, they have been bred mainly for egg laying.
It can occasionally happen that a usually-non-broody-hen goes broody. I've seen stories about how a RIR hen went broody, which usually doesn't happen very often I think, but it can happen if the hen still has some broody trait that hasn't been bred out of her I guess.

Hope this helps!

 

[Judy]

Some of the heavy breeds like orps and australorp will go broody, but only some of them. I had 3 Kraienkoppes who were all broody; the one I have left is raising chicks now. They are not a heavy breed, but are also not a bantam, about the size of a leghorn.

 

[azelgin]

Quote:
I have five hatchery Golden Laced Wyandottes that are a little over a year old. Three have gone broody this year. I'd say that's a pretty high percentage, 60%, for a heavy breed.

 

[Layin Eggs]

Both of my wheaton maran have gone broody this spring, both hatched out 7 chicks and now i have a broody Ameracauna trying to hatch unfertile eggs poor girl.

 

[IggiMom]

My Black Jersey Giant hatched out two little Serama eggs and she is being a very good mom to them.

Catherine

 

[77horses]

Our Buff Orp hen hatched out 3 eggs(had like 15+, most were infertile, 1 died while hatching, 2 died while developing...) But this is her first ever time being a mother and she's really doing a great job!

She attacks other chickens that come near her chicks(which is both good and bad; it's good because she will protect them from dangers, but bad because Raven(black Amer. pullet) likes to be around the chicks because she's really friendly and curious, but often gets pecked by momma hen).
And currently we have a broody buff Cochin Bantam pullet(yes, she's still a pullet, not a hen yet, and she's broody!)

But the Buff Orp hen's sister hasn't gone broody, even though she's also a Buff Orp. I guess some hens have the broody trait stronger than others.

 

[milleryardchx]

my uncle rases ducks and grouse for aliving and he swears by his cochin brahma mixed hens he says he has 10 and he always has at least 6 broody at one time he says most of the time he can put one in a broody pen and put the eggs in and within 2 days she is in there sitting on those eggs! he has 3 of those mixed eggs under a broody for me with two of my BCM eggs due july 1st. Because I have 12 hens and my two year old set thats 5 of the 12 have never once gone broody and I want to start raising BCM so we are hoping we have three pullet chicks in those eggs for being sitters for me.

 

[dancingbear]

I have 8 hens brooding right now, and 1 more thinking about it. They're standard Cornish, (dark) light Brahma, some brahma mixed breeds, an Australorp, and EE's. 1 of the EE's is broody for the 2nd time this year. I have 2 others who went broody, raising babies right now, a dark Cornish, and a Brahma mixed breed.

I have 4 dark Cornish hens, three have brooded for 2 years, (they're about 3 years old) and the 4th went broody for the first time this year. She's a fierce defender of her eggs. They Cornish and Brahmas are all excellent moms, and my EE hen did very well, too. They take extra chicks easily, too, when I have incubator chicks to add, or if for some reason a chick ends up separated from whoever hatched it. All I have to do is tuck the new chicks under them at night, (I reach in from behind, so they don't peck me) and in the morning they just act like they've always had them. They'll just as happily raise keets and poults, too.

 

[goldnchocolate]

I've had both black australorp's and buff orpington's go broody. None of my barred rocks or SLW's ever went broody.

Three weeks ago a 1 yr old RIR went broody so I stuck 6 eggs under her. So far today there are 3 teeny tiny chicks with her and she is still sitting on the remaining eggs. She is being a good mom to her chicks so far.