Broody is a hormonal thing. There's not much we can do to "get them to go broody". Some people swear by putting fake eggs in a nest to get them going, but I've never had any luck with that. Some of it can also depend on the breeds you have, and whether or not they're heritage birds or hatchery birds. Some of the egg-laying breeds like leghorns and sex links that you get from a hatchery are not likely at all to go broody. That's been pretty much bred out of them. However, Orpingtons, Cochins, and Australorps have more of a broody tendency. But as Ridgerunner says, they're living animals so there is no guarantee as to what each individual bird will do.
I'm going to assume you already have 2-3 broody hens....... Give one broody some eggs to hatch and put the others in broody breaker cages. If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly. My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day. I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.
my breeds are: RIR - 2 years old 2 jersey giants - 11 months old 2 black sex links - 11 months old 2 black copper merans - 11 months old 2 white leghorns - 6 months old 1 buff opting - 6 months old 1 buckeye - 6 months old 2 golden sex links - 6 months old how they are kept: they live in a big yard outside where some sun can get in, lots of water and food, and 6 nesting boxes, and a coop big enough for many generations of chickens.
Are any broody now? Hatchery birds are not very prone to be broody regardless of intended breed they are selling excepting the traditionally VERY broody types like Silkie. Hatchery birds are bred for production and have little patients for keeping broody birds. It's counter their business goal- hatch a lot of birds to sell. Keeping poor layers or broody birds does not fit that goal. If your wanting a broody bird purchase local a proven broody, place an ad in craigslist for example, or look locally for breeder birds which do follow breed traits.
Im still gathering the materials, and which one to target to get broody! (I know I might have 2 broody but I will try to get one broody)
