Right now I have three Broodies on eggs and two more with chicks. Partridge Wyandotte (chicks) , BLR Wyandotte, BCM, SG Dorking and a Gold Laced Cornish (chicks and a excellent Mother)
I have never used a incubator, only Broody hens. I don't know anything about incubators.
Young hens sometimes get silly . They go Broody then change their minds. Its frustrating. I only use my very best Broodys (usually SG Dorkings as they can handle up to 14 eggs) for expensive eggs. I learned the hard way.
A couple of years ago I found one Broody hiding in the bush, a Buff Orpington sitting on 22 eggs! Only seven hatched
I put my Broodies in big dog crates with food and water. I feed them hard boiled eggs along with their regular food and put vitamins in their water.
They all go to a special safe area. Some I will leave the dog crate door open during the day as they like to leave the nest, while others never do leave the nest.
When the chicks hatch, I leave them in that area for approx three days. Then the dog crate moves to a special wire penned area. I open the dog crate door every morning and she barrels out with her chicks to teach them chicken stuff BUT it must be locked up at night.
The pen is fairly large and the fencing is small mesh wire.One end has a back wall and roof for the dog carriers to sit under. Each run is separate from the other. I place fir/cedar/etc. branches in the runs so the chicks can hide under them. They feel safer that way.
They can stay in these runs for quite awhile.
Each run has a door at the end. When the chicks get older and I am home to watch, I open the door to the outside world. But everything is locked up at night.
When the Mother decides it is time to leave the chicks. I put perches in the dog carriers and they can use these for quite awhile. When I think it is time for them to move to one of the big coops. I move the dog carrier into the coop run, near the coop house and do the routine until the young birds figure out it is better to sleep inside the big coop. Usually takes a few days.
