Can a person make a Hen go broody?

[Chicken person]

I want to start hatching eggs, but don't have an incubator. Is there any way to convince a hen to go broody or am I just going to have to wait?

 

[sourland]

First make sure that you have a breed that is likely to go broody, then wait patiently. Some feel that allowing them to build up a clutch of eggs will spur the onset of broody behavior. I'm not certain that is the case though I do not discount the possibility.

 

[Chicken person]

Supposedly all of mine breeds go broody but not often at all. Should I wait on them to go broody or should i just by an incubator?

 

[sumi]

Some breeds, like Silkies, are notoriously broody and will need little encouragement. And some hens just don't want to be mommies. The only thing you can do is give them the opportunity, drop a hint and see what happens. Take some eggs, just 4-5 and mark them so you know which are fresh and which are bait and leave them in a nest box. If you can get fake eggs, even better. Remove any fresh eggs laid and leave those bait eggs for the hens. I'm not saying it's going to work, but I've had some success with this method and my MIL had very good results with her bantams doing this. (But then her bantams would sit on anything that looked like an egg. Last I heard she had 5 broodies!)

Tip: I hear chickens are more prone to go broody in Spring, so wait until it's a bit warmer before doing this. Good luck!