What do broody hens want

[thunderbird]

One of our orpingtons has gone broody, our rooster is kinda small to be able to fertilize the eggs consistently so I'm just gonna buy some for her to sit on. Anyways what do broody hens want as far as bedding and size of the nest and such. Thanks.

 

[All Ball]

I think that anything a hen wants in a nest to lay eggs will work for a broody, since the original birthing impulse drives their nesting needs. I used straw in one of the egg nests; others I know have used dog crates with straw. some people would probably argue for pine shavings. When the nest was kind of chick poopy, I pulled out some of the straw and had pine shavings on hand so used that, and she didn't like it and switched nests! (Was brooding in the egg-laying nests.)