How do you get a chicken to go broody

[JasperMoon]

Stupid Question Time!!
Id love to hatch eggs, the sad thing is none of my hens will go broody! Can you make them broody? pretty sure all but one are Leghorn mixes, and I have one EE but shes an older hen, not sure about her, please help!

 

[Smuvers Farm]

They go broody when they want, not when you want. It's an instinct thing.

 

[JasperMoon]

They go broody when they want, not when you want. It's an instinct thing.

alright! is there a set of conditions to help with it though? im genneraly wondering XD

 

[Welshies]

Chickens will go broody for a few reasons. It's an instinct thing, usually triggered by hormones. If you stop collecting eggs often hens from a broody breed will go broody. First time broodies may not even fully incubate their eggs.
Leghorns and EEs aren't a very broody type of chicken. Although individuals from non-broody-breeds can go broody, it's uncommon. Broodier breeds include Silkies, Dorkings, Orpingtons, Old English Games.

 

[JasperMoon]

Chickens will go broody for a few reasons. It's an instinct thing, usually triggered by hormones. If you stop collecting eggs often hens from a broody breed will go broody. First time broodies may not even fully incubate their eggs.
Leghorns and EEs aren't a very broody type of chicken. Although individuals from non-broody-breeds can go broody, it's uncommon. Broodier breeds include Silkies, Dorkings, Orpingtons, Old English Games.

alright! Sadly cant leave eggs in there unless my dad sees them broody, he fears that they will go canibal XD, and I might be getting myself a silkie! (dad want to make sure they are useful chickens befor i can get one; Egg production, Meatproduction, Chick Production)

 

[Welshies]

alright! Sadly cant leave eggs in there unless my dad sees them broody, he fears that they will go canibal XD, and I might be getting myself a silkie! (dad want to make sure they are useful chickens befor i can get one; Egg production, Meatproduction, Chick Production)

Leaving eggs in the coop will not cause cannibalism or egg eating. What causes that is overcrowding, and feeding eggs to birds that are not fully cooked and crushed. A lack of calcium can cause egg eating. Leaving eggs in the coop will not. Your birds probably won't go broody, being an EE and a Leghorn, and if they do, it is more likely to happen because you leave eggs in the coop. If you collect them, they won't go broody.
Silkies are considered special needs birds and are usually adviced to not be kept with other chickens. They get picked on because they are so different and require special care.

 

[kwhites634]

alright! is there a set of conditions to help with it though? im genneraly wondering XD

Maybe, and it's a big maybe, putting fake eggs in the nest will help. I've tried it, without success. All I could find at TSC were white eggs; my hens all lay brown eggs. Whether brown fakes would have made a difference I don't know.
I finally had a hen go broody, but nowhere near the "fake eggs" time frame.

 

[JasperMoon]

Maybe, and it's a big maybe, putting fake eggs in the nest will help. I've tried it, without success. All I could find at TSC were white eggs; my hens all lay brown eggs. Whether brown fakes would have made a difference I don't know.
I finally had a hen go broody, but nowhere near the "fake eggs" time frame.

thank you! will golfballs or pingpong balls work?

 

[Welshies]

thank you! will golfballs or pingpong balls work?

Yes! Golfballs are often used as "fake eggs" to teach hens to lay in the nest boxes.

 

[sourland]

These are living creatures, and have wills of their own and will do as their biologies dictate. First thing, I would ask the previous owner if any of these birds have gone broody before. I wouldn't call silkies 'special needs', but introducing a silky to an established flock of larger birds would be difficult/dangerous because of the nature of the pecking order. On her own a hen will gradually build/lay a clutch of eggs over a period of time. (this dispels the theory that eggs can only be held 10 days till incubation) Does this cause her to go broody ? I don't know, but I don't think so. Placing several artificial nest eggs in a nest will do no harm, but I am uncertain if it will help induce broodiness.

Did I get the idea yesterday that you have an incubator ? Until you find if any of your birds will go broody this may be an option. Does the black bird have 5 toes on each foot ? If so she may have silky blood which would greatly increase the chances that she will go broody. Since your Dad is interested in egg production, getting chicks from a known broody breed this spring might be another option. Be patient, a way to build your flock will become evident.