Sitting?

If you are wanting to hatch some eggs (and I am no expert but have done it a few times) then gather some as they are laid and put them in a cool, dark place. Not the fridge, that's too cold. But I would collect for a week and if your hen doesn't start setting on the nest and staying there, then I eat the eggs and start gathering again.
When she does start going broody, she will stay on the nest, sort of spread her wings out and sometimes growl when you get close. That's when I put the eggs under her.
It's an awesome experience. I never use an incubator, only my hens.
I have one sitting now and fortunately I have a new breed and wanted to hatch some eggs out so she is getting them all. She can sit on 8 comfortably but she is a banty.

 

It seems that most hens don't go broody until they are around a year old. There are always exceptions of course. It just seems that people on here tend to say that their broody is about a year old when she starts sitting. I've heard people say that their hen went broody within a month of starting to lay also. So ????? who knows?

Also, most hens don't actually ever go broody. People have bred that trait out of chickens so that we get eggs and not a hen sitting for 21 days not laying eggs. Some breeds are more likely to go broody, like Silkies. You may never have a hen go broody. You may get a hen that goes broody all the time and you get tired of it!

 

Going Broody is a hormonal thing for a hen...Some say you can make a hen go Broody I have never been able to accomplish that... I raise Buff and Blue/Black/Splash Orpingtons and have had them go Broody on me as early as within a few weeks of laying their first pullet eggs...and my older hens sometimes want to set too...So far this Spring and Summer I have delt with 10 broody hens and pullets...