Broodiest breed

[Farm Girl 1]

Hello, I am wondering what the broodiest breed of chicken is? Here is my plan in a few years (I have too many chickens to start my plan now) I will order my isa browns(for egg production) and a rooster, but I will also order a few other chickens that breeds are generally really broody. So I can have fertile isa brown eggs and put them under a hen that is broody. So I would like to know what breed is the broodiest?. What does everyone think of my plan? I would like a breed that is a quieter, friendlier type.

 

[Wyandottes7]

There is no one "broody" breed. Individuals in each breed decide whether they'll go broody or not. With that said, two common broody breeds are Silkies and Cochins. If you want broody birds, those are two good breeds to try. Old English Game also make good mothers, in general.

One problem I see in your plan is that you (I assume) will be breeding an Isa Brown rooster to Isa Brown hens. Isa Browns are a hybrid, developed for excellent egg production. When you breed two hybrids together, the offspring will not be the same. They may very well lay just as many eggs (or may lay fewer- you can't really tell), but may look different. Commercial hatcheries and farms only produce 1st generation crosses, to maximize production and uniformity.If your goal is to replicate the original birds, Isa Browns might not be the best breed for you. A pure breed that lays a large number of eggs may be a better idea.

 

[red horse ranch]

Sounds like a plan!
I had a dark cornish that was ALWAYS broody. I finally gave her away because I was tired of breaking her broody. She was hatching two batches of babies a year and still wanted more!
My Australorps always go broody every spring too.

 

[Farm Girl 1]

There is no one "broody" breed. Individuals in each breed decide whether they'll go broody or not. With that said, two common broody breeds are Silkies and Cochins. If you want broody birds, those are two good breeds to try. Old English Game also make good mothers, in general.

One problem I see in your plan is that you (I assume) will be breeding an Isa Brown rooster to Isa Brown hens. Isa Browns are a hybrid, developed for excellent egg production. When you breed two hybrids together, the offspring will not be the same. They may very well lay just as many eggs (or may lay fewer- you can't really tell), but may look different. Commercial hatcheries and farms only produce 1st generation crosses, to maximize production and uniformity.If your goal is to replicate the original birds, Isa Browns might not be the best breed for you. A pure breed that lays a large number of eggs may be a better idea.

It will be an isa brown roster and isa brown hens, but i don't need them to have the brand name of isa brown, I just need them to lay eggs.

 

[Wyandottes7]

It will be an isa brown roster and isa brown hens, but i don't need them to have the brand name of isa brown, I just need them to lay eggs.

Well, then I think your plan should work out pretty well!

Good luck!

 

[Farm Girl 1]

Thanks!

 

[Farm Girl 1]

Any other broody breeds?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Any other broody breeds?

Cornish and other game/Oriental type breeds, like Aseels and Malays can go broody. Orpingtons are also commonly broody, and Sussex may be too.

If you want broody chickens, stay away from the Meditteranean breeds, like Leghorns, Minorcas, Catalanas, and Anconas. These are usually flighty and have been bred to not go broody. Most of the Continental class breeds aren't great broodies, either (Marans, Faverolles, Welsummers, etc). Don't use Production Reds (hatchery Rhode Island Reds), or hatchery Barred Rocks. These, like many of the Meditteranean breeds, have had most of the broodiness bred out of them.

 

[Farm Girl 1]

So I should probably order some silkies and Cochins?

 

[Aphrael]

I think cochins or silkies would be a good bet. I haven't had any silkies (yet), but I've read that most of them would try to hatch a nest full or rocks if they couldn't get anything else. I DO have some bantam cochins and every single one has gone broody at some point. Two of them go broody again every time they have finished raising the last brood to what they think is an acceptable age to fend for themselves. Mine are also very protective mothers and take good care of the babies. I actually just had one of them hatch and raise a group of 5 LF ducks. She did a splendid job, and it was sooooo cute watching her mother that crazy passel of ducklings. They outgrew her in like 3 weeks, but she didn't care a bit.