We have had chickens for about a year now. My goal is for my flock to produce enough babies each year for meat for my family and for some new layers each year. Oh -- and I want to use broodies -- I don't have an incubator. I have 1 silkie who went broody in the middle of winter, but since then I have had no others even attempt. So a month or two ago I decided to go ahead and order chicks this year. I ordered ALOT. We want 20 or 30 to butcher plus 12 or so new layers. I figured my girls were not quite ready to hatch any this year. Well, guess how many broodies I have now? -- THREE, can you believe it? My silkie took one look at those cute baby chicks and by that evening she decide she wanted some for her own. She is now on 8 eggs from my mixed flock (on day 12). It appears that I also have 2 dark cornish broodies: one of them has sat for 2 nights straight, so last night I gave her a dozen eggs. Another one has now decided she thinks this is a great plan -- we will see if she will stick it out for a couple of nights before we give her any. Very soon we will be over run with chicks! Crazy Chickens! So if you want a broody order enough chicks for the year -- THEN they will go broody and give you more chicks than you know what to do with!
