Broodies Chicken breeds?

[redrodeo]

I am looking to add one or two hens to my Sumatra flock. I am not looking to add more Sumatra's to the flock just yet. I simply want one or two hens to help me hatch out eggs, so I wont have to use the incubator all the time. I am look for breed that is really friendly and extremely broody. I wish to use them to hatch out eggs instead of an incubator when I can. I was wondering what you think a good breed would be for me and why?

 

[junebuggena]

Silkies, Cochins, and Orpingtons are very broody breeds. It's not really healthy for a hen to brood more than once or twice a year though, and depending on the size of the hen and the size of the eggs, most can only hatch about 6 to 10 eggs at a time. Not every broody hen makes for a good mother. If you really, absolutely have to have a guaranteed to brood and care for chicks hen, definitely go with a mature hen that has already been a proven good broody. You might have better luck finding one towards the end of summer or in the fall. That's the time of year people 'cull' their older birds to make room for younger pullets.

 

[nchls school]

I am looking to add one or two hens to my Sumatra flock. I am not looking to add more Sumatra's to the flock just yet. I simply want one or two hens to help me hatch out eggs, so I wont have to use the incubator all the time. I am look for breed that is really friendly and extremely broody. I wish to use them to hatch out eggs instead of an incubator when I can. I was wondering what you think a good breed would be for me and why?

Many breeds will go broody. The breed I like best are silkies. I use them with my serama bantams who's eggs are less than half the size of the silkies. Even though the eggs are much smaller the silkies hatch and raise the serama. I have not even had an egg get damaged because of the larger broody hen size.

 

[Pork Pie]

From feedback here on BYC having a hen brood more than twice per year is not considered bad for a hen. I guess it depends where one lives, but having a brood and thus not laying for almost 3 months I wouldn't consider detrimental to a hens health. Just an observation that I would not wish to detract from the question you asked, nor the advice given. Anyway, there's nothing nicer than seeing mum with her chicks around the place!

All the best
Ct

 

[nchls school]

From feedback here on BYC having a hen brood more than twice per year is not considered bad for a hen. I guess it depends where one lives, but having a brood and thus not laying for almost 3 months I wouldn't consider detrimental to a hens health. Just an observation that I would not wish to detract from the question you asked, nor the advice given. Anyway, there's nothing nicer than seeing mum with her chicks around the place!

All the best
Ct

X 2! I watch my hens for good weight and muscle tone. As long as that is good I use them for broodies regardless of how many times they have brooded eggs and raised chicks. I think a bigger concern is the duration of broodiness.