I've got a lot of birds, and have only had two of them go broody. My birds are mostly hatchery stock, and that plays a part in it, as I understand that they breed broodiness out of their birds, in favor of more egg-laying tendency.
My reliable broody is a cuckoo marans, and her way of letting us all know, is to simply sit in her desired nest box, and not leave. She will sit day and night, and will only exit briefly, each day, to eat, drink, poo, and bully the nearest bird briefly. Then it's back on the nest. She is a great broody, as she will growl and kind-of chitter at us, when we get close, or pet her, but she has never bit, pecked, etc., and my husband and I have actually removed eggs from her clutch, while she is sitting, and she never tried to bite, etc.
We haven't had a rooster until recently (and he is gorgeous, and we love him, but he may not be staying if the neighbors complain), so we rely on purchased or donated eggs for her to sit on. It works out well. We show her the eggs, and she rolls them under herself, fluffs her petticoats, and sits. When she actually hatches babies, we have sometimes purchased a couple of extra chicks from the feed store, and presented them to her. She has always raised up, fluffed, and allowed the little ones to run under her, and then broods them, as well. I'm not sure most birds will do that, but she has, every time we have given her the opportunity.
Good luck with your bird. Hatching out babies has been a great experience for us.
