What is the deal with Broody hens?

[PVILLAGO]

I am new to the chicken raising process and I've taken alot of time to build my coop and run. I've spent alot of time sealing up all cracks and crevices to keep the vermin out of their coop. I have a autoimmune disorder so I work on it when I can and rest when I can't . Long story short we started in April and have finally finished the coop and run and I'm ready for my pullets. BUT I read people talk about their hens "going" broody??
I know it means they want to nest?? or what?? If I end up with a broody breed I just want to know how to handle them.
Any help is appreciated.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Welcome and congratulations on having the coop ready before getting chickens.
A broody hen is one whose hormones cause her to want to raise a family.
Some breeds are more prone to become setters than others as you already know.
That said, I've had traditionally broody breeds never choose to set and non-broody breeds that reliably raised chicks for me yearly and even multiple clutches a year. So what I'm saying is, there is no predicting what you'll get.
If you won't have a rooster, your birds eggs won't be fertile. But if you get a broody and you want more chickens, you can get fertile eggs to give her. Always mark eggs under a broody so you can remove any volunteered later so you don't get a staggered hatch or have her sitting on infertile eggs.
If you aren't going to have her raise a family, you must break the broodiness. Otherwise she may never quit on her own, which can seriously affect her health because she'll sit 23.5 hours a day affecting feed intake and muscle mass.
The tried and true method of breaking that has been used for thousands of years is placing the hen in an elevated cage. The idea is to prevent her from keeping her underside warm You want cool air reaching her underside. That will break the hormone cycle.
Caught early, you can break them in a couple days. Just put a little food and water in the cagee.

 

[50-45-1]

What breeds were you thinking of getting?
If you go with leghorns, they very seldom to never go broody. They are great layers and will eat less than your heavy breeds. I also find them to have great personalities. They come in other feather colors than white.
Sounds like you have left yourself some time to research what breed before jumping in.
Good thinking!

 

[McChooky]

The breed you select should be one that is cold or hot hardy for your climate and one that bears confinement well. Some breeds with long combs do not do as as well in cold climates and are prone to get frost bite on their combs. Chickens with shorter combs aren't prone to frost bite .I chose to raise Dominiques with smaller combs because temps get down below zero in WV where I live. My dads raised leghorns and their combs got frost bite .

 

[3KillerBs]

Here's an excellent article all about broodies: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rst-turkey-strut-to-weaning-the-chicks.76878/

 

[Perris]

Personally I find having a broody the best part of chicken keeping - watching a broody raise her chicks is wonderful, and you don't have to do much at all to facilitate her efforts; the real downside to having a broody is that you need a plan for any cockerels that hatch (likely to be 50% of the clutch); finding them new homes is not easy, and some can't bring themselves to kill or eat them.

Besides suitability for your climate and keeping environment, you might want to factor disease resistance into your breed choice; some are much more robust than others.