When will they sett?

[whitebutcher]

I ordered chicks from a well known hatchery this year and recieved them on june ninth.They are a little over four months old now and all are doing well.I ordered specific breeds because i want to experiment with crossing them.My question is when can I expect the hens to go broody?I know they start laying at aprox five months,But when do they start setting?

 

[dacjohns]

Many breeds are not known for broodiness so your birds may not ever go broody. Even with breeds that tend towards broodiness it depends on the individual bird and how the hormones hit them.

See Henderson's chart for broody tendency of different breeds.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[jossanne]

My sister got BO's, hatched March 29, from McMurray. She had several of them broody already last month, before they were 6 months old. I never had a broody McMurray BO, so hers must be special!

 

[Mahonri]

I can't imagine that any of my hens from McMurray will go broody... but if they do...I'm buying chicks to put under them!