How do i get hen to hatch chicks

[TLeo13]

:/My hens are broody for about an hour and then just leave the nest. I dont have money for an incubator and if i did i still wouldnt get one, i just love the sights of peeps with a hen(even if it isnt their mom) how do i get my hens to hatch chicks?

 

[acid_chipmunk]

If they are only in the nest for an hour, they aren't broody. If they are there for hours on end or days, then they are broody. Put some fake eggs or golf balls in the nest and see if they will stay first. Then, if they do, get them some fertile eggs.

 

[Beekissed]

Hens don't go broody for just an hour. Sometimes they will love the nest and sit so long you suspect they are broody but you will know if you get a broody...this is a hen that won't leave the nest and will just about take your hand off if you try to make her. She will fluff up her feathers and let out a cry if you try to dislodge her and will stay fluffed up and ticked off if you pull her off the nest anyway. Then she will find a way right back on it and will sit on it even during the night.

The only way you can get a broody is if you happen to have a breed or particular chicken with broody tendicies....one cannot force a broody. They either have the proper hormone production to react in a brood manner or they don't.

You could advertise that you wish to buy a broody hen...I'm sure there are many who would like to get rid of a perpetual broody!

 

[TLeo13]

what kinds of breeds are broody and does any one have one for sale?(i am kinda a first time chicken owner)

 

[MuscovyMad]

I think cochins and slikies are amongst the best for broodiness.

 

[RedReiner]

Orpingtons...

 

[Beekissed]

White Rocks, New Hamps and the occasional Black Aussie.

 

[Judy]

My best broodies were Kraienkoppes. The first page of this article tells it:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[pkw]

I have had 2 white orpington hens, 2 partridge rock hens and now a columbian wyandotte hen go broody.