how to get a hen broody?

They go broody when they are ready, some never do.

 

get 8 eggs give or take build a nice "nest" put the eggs in it put the hen on the eggs and sprinkle some food in front of her if that doesnt work shes not in the mood

 

I recently got my Silkie broody putting 6 golf balls in two of our three nesting boxes. Our other hen, a Brahma toyed with the idea for a day or two and spent some time sitting on them, then the Silkie took over and just hunkered down. I waited about 5 days before I was certain she was broody. We left the golf balls in the other nesting box for another week but my Brahma never went for it again and we removed them once I received some hatching eggs to put under the Silkie. So - I would try golf balls, but I guess it probably depends on the hen's propensity to broodiness. Obviously Silkies are the most likely of all the breeds, so it was likely a pretty easy thing for us to achieve. I've read that hens are most likely to go broody in the spring, so now is a good time to at least try.