1. If you just got new birds, they will not brood. Why? Because they have been moved, and will be under stress. It usually takes chickens a couple weeks together settled in. Most likely they will not go back to setting.
2. Just because a bird may be a broody breed, does not mean they set all the time.
3. I don't know where you live, but if it's fall there, hens don't sit as readily as in the spring. Spring is when they usually brood the most.
4. To encourage your hens to set, make sure your nest are secluded and dark. Also, leave a few eggs in each nest. You can gather the old ones, and leave the new every day.
5. When a hen is broody She will set on the nest day and night. Let her do this for a couple days to make sure, before you set eggs under her. Also, when you do let them set, it needs to be separate from the others. Just to make sure you know, ere is no guarantee they will set. If you do what I said above, that's about it. You will just have to hope.
6. Sadly, you can't tell if an egg is fertile by candling. You can take an egg or two from each one, and crack it open. If there's a small circle, with a white ring around it, it is fertile. If a hens egg is fertile when you crack it open, it's most likely that all her eggs will be.
7. After you set eggs under a hen, you can candle in the first few days, and look for blood vessels and/or the small embryo. These show up at approx. 2-3 days of incubation. That way you will know early on what is developing and what is not. AKA: what is fertile and what wasn't. You can throw out thrones that aren't developing.
I wish you the best of luck!
