Broody Breeds

[Pumpkinpup]

I have been on the fence as to wheter or not I want to get a few good broody type hens to let them incubate for me. I have been told the best broodies are silkies but I have to admit I am NOT very fond of their appearance. What besides game hens makes a really good broody? Any suggestions?

 

[speckledhen]

Here's my view, for what it's worth. After losing three hens to internal laying and about to lose two more, all same age, all hatchery stock, I am happy for a hen to go broody once or twice a year, just so she can have a two month break from laying. I truly believe natural broodiness prolongs their lives, and I qualify that statement by adding that, as long as she does not starve herself to death or try to kill herself through dehydration, i.e. a normal broody, then she prolongs her life. Broodiness is bred out of even normal broody breeds in favor of high egg production. Yes, you get fewer eggs, but you dont have to watch hen after hen waste away and die earlier than she should from egg material building up in her oviduct, as I have. I'm not saying that not going broody means she will become an internal layer, necessarily, but it sure is hard on the body to lay eggs day after day with no real breaks. My hens who died from internal laying didn't even take a long break to molt, either, just two weeks each. They were bred that way, I believe, selected for non-stop laying.
I've had three different hens go broody, all were sweet as can be with us, each allowing us to take them off the nest and put them back when we fed them daily. All allowed us to handle the babies, too, so I haven't had a true psycho-broody yet.

 

[jossanne]

I got a mixed bunch of hens from McMurray, and none of them are particularly known as broodies, so I bought bantam cochins last month to be my broodies.

I had turkens in the past who were the best moms. Two of them sat a clutch of eggs together, and when the babies hatched they mothered them together.

Now I have EE's, wyandottes, and BR's who may go broody, but I wasn't sure if they would or not. So now I've got cochins, and I know someone will go broody for me!

 

[cluckychick]

I have had 3 chickens go broody this year, all less than a year old. Two frizzles and one silkie. I let the two frizzles hatch eggs. One hatched 4 and then she was done and wanted no part of taking care of her babies and even went so far as to start attacking them so I put her back in with the other girls and less then 4 weeks later she went broody and has been sitting on nothing ever since.

Broody #2 hatched out 7 chicks and was a good mommy for aprox 3 weeks. All chicks hatched were standards so it didn't take much time for them to get close in size to my little frizzle. Last night mommy went back in with the big girls as she was trying to escape the broody box and babies. She'd had enough of them tromping all over her, lol.

Broody #3 is a silkie sitting on nothing and has done this for 3 months. I take her out of the box and bring her outside. She pecks around alittle, gets a drink and runs back in the henhouse and back in her box she goes.

I don't mind the frizzle and silkies sitting as they only give small eggs to begin with and noone wants to buy little eggs so them being broody gives me an the chance to have babies when I want. I love baby chickies!! They have given me 100% hatch rates which I don't think I would get with an incubator

I think broodies are awesome!!!

 

[Whirlwind]

Hey monty, first off you will so enjoy any chickens you get. I have raised chicks with a hen and without. If you want babies a broody hen is by far the easiest way to go. You will need to provide her a nice safe place where the others will not pick on her, try to lay in her nest possably breaking her eggs. It is such fun to watch a hen teach her babies and call out "hey come eat this" or "Go hide quick, DANGER" in her different clucks and calls.

If you want to raise them yourself, if you even want chicks, you do all the work. Heat them and keep them safe, clean up after them ect. Mine tend to be more tame sooner when handled more. But eventually mine all tame down for me. Could be the super spoiling and speacial treats I give them.

And having said all that you can try to pick breeds known for their broodiness. But there are no gaurentees. Each chicken is an individual.

As I said above, You will really have a great time with any you get! So enjoy and have fun!! Welcome to the crazy world of chickens. Can't wait to hear what you end up getting.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I say get a breed that can go broody because incubators can cost alot in electricity. I know that alot of pheasant breeders have their own broody breeds, most of them have cochin, silkie, game, and other. I have found my wyandottes to be the best broodies as far as a pure breed.
My best broody was a mutt, her mom was a cochin x silkie and her dad was an australorp x leghorn cross. She layed a couple eggs as a pullet then went broody for a couple years it seemed. She was an awesome broody until she was about 3 and she only layed a handful of eggs during those years. Then she stopped being broody and started being a layer and layed constantly until she became eggbound.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

.............

 

[SussexInSeattle]

...................

 

[hoog]

I like Cochins for this job so far.

This thread originally is pretty old but the last post is less than a week. I personally have been trying to find a big broody dual purpose breed. Some say that orpingtons go broody and I tried them first but with little luck. Also a neighbor told me his orpingtons break the eggs because she is so heavy. Knowing egg physics it seems unlikely but maybe. I have heard that game birds are hard to deal with, especially in getting along with others. The Cochins I got on the other hand are different. They are big enough to cover 12 eggs and the first one went broody after laying only about 8 eggs, total.

Next I am going to try New HAmpshires… More meaty and heat tolerant.

 

[Magic Birdie]

It depends on what you want from your chickens. If you want a lot of eggs, broodies are not for you.

To me, silkies are the broodiest.
Just look at this!

Not my pictures, by the way

And you can't appreciate them enough without watching this: