Most broody breed?

[sniper338]

What is the most hands down broody breed hen to get that will hatch eggs and raise chicks?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Bantam cochins

 

[MysteryChicken]

Silkies(Bantam, & Largefowl).

 

[SilverBirds]

Bantam cochins

Strongly agree.

 

[sniper338]

Ttt

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Probably most of the game breeds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

One of the problems is that hens from different flocks of the same breed will go broody at different rates. Going broody is hereditary and if the person selecting which chickens get to breed uses broodiness as a criteria, in just a few generations they can have a flock where the hens either go broody a lot or hardly ever do. Your experience may be different from someone else's. If you get a certain breed I cannot guarantee that a specific hen will or will not go broody.

That said, some breeds have a reputation of often going broody. Two were mentioned above. Those are both bantam so the hens can't hatch and raise a lot of full sized chicks. I don't know how important that is to you. Old English Games have a reputation for going broody a lot, I'd give them some consideration. Orpington are supposed to go broody a lot but the two I had from Cackle never did. Both Black Australorp I got from Cackle did go broody. I don't know if they would for you.

You can look through Henderson's Breed Chart in this link to see some other breeds that are supposed to go broody a lot.

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

I kept replacement chickens from hens that went broody and soon had a flock where a lot of the hens went broody. Keeping a replacement rooster from a hen that went broody made a big difference also.

The more you get the better chance you have of getting at least one broody hen.

 

[Yard Farmer]

Silkies.

X2, all the way!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Pheonixes and bantam Cornish have been my best ones. Silkies are better than most, spitzhaubens try and try and try but rarely succeed, and cochins are a big hit or miss here.

 

[Aunt Angus]

My Silkies are broody more often than not. I'm not exaggerating. They're both broody right now.