Unfortunately we have no choice if we want more chickens.
I suppose it could be done, but it would be incredibly hard. One would need to research quite a few breeds and mixes to find a variety of breeds that fit their environment, and who brood naturally. Then one would need to find a source of those breeds, ideally one that broods naturally as well. The latter will be much harder to find than the former.
Here there are three options when it comes to purchasing birds. POL RSLs, all incubator grown, and probably the last choice for anyone looking to start a free range self-sustaining chicken group.
The second category is hatcheries and farms that raise a lot of breeds. I only know of two, and both don’t work like the typical US hatchery. They do not ship day old chicks, rather 6 to 8 week olds, that are delivered to one’s desired location by a truck driven by a hatchery employee or acquaintance. That way, the birds get fed, watered and checked on throughout their journey. Said hatcheries do not allow you to purchase from them unless you get at least one male with your pullets. Still, most of those chicks are hatched in an incubator.
The last category, is backyard breeders, who tend to have rarer breeds, or local landraces and mixes. That would be the best way to get teenage birds that were born and raised under a broody, and are also the desired breed/mix. Of course, this is quite hard to do, as very few of those people advertise their birds, or sell to outsiders entirely. If one can get access to birds like that, then than would seem to be the best way.
I hope my post doesn’t read as criticism to whoever starts their natural chicken group journey any other way. For the first 7 years of chicken keeping all I tended to (and with the exception of a few roosters) were ISA browns and Leghorns bought as POL pullets, born and raised artificially. Even now, only 6 (or 7, Big Red might have been broody raised before he came to me) birds here have been raised by a broody
