It is a sure bet that a few hens of the nonbroody breeds, like r.i. reds, will be broody. Just keep eggs from that hen, let her hatch them, and when a few of THOSE grow up and get broody, do likewise. It is a genetic behavior, although possibly partly learned, I don't know. I would bet it would only take a few generations before you would have a nice flock of broody R.I. Reds. Or whatever. And of course, you would want to keep a roo from one of those eggs from a broody hen, and breed from HIM, too.
Sounds like sort of a fun project to me.
You would have to outcross to an unrelated bird now and again, but there is no reason you couldn't let siblings breed to each other and so forth, to set the quality you are breeding for, in this case broodiness.
If you are going to keep your chickens nice, you would have to look at the other qualities you were interested in also, like for example, say, non-aggression in roos, egg laying numbers, nice color both of eggs and birds, but you would firstly be looking for broodiness. Yeah, fun project.
Sounds like sort of a fun project to me.
You would have to outcross to an unrelated bird now and again, but there is no reason you couldn't let siblings breed to each other and so forth, to set the quality you are breeding for, in this case broodiness.
If you are going to keep your chickens nice, you would have to look at the other qualities you were interested in also, like for example, say, non-aggression in roos, egg laying numbers, nice color both of eggs and birds, but you would firstly be looking for broodiness. Yeah, fun project.
