Which breed makes the best mother?

[Mariakissinger132]

So sadly 3 of my chickens have recently gone missing all 3 at once and were unsure of what got them the other 3 are fine but a bit shaken up. We plan on getting more chickens in the future but we don’t want to raise them we want one of our 3 girls to raise them. We have 2 bantams and 1 Brahma left. Both breeds have been very broody before but who will raise them and take care of them the best? Also when is the best time to get them and how do we get the mother to sit on the eggs?

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

What kinds of bantams are they?

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I've never heard of a way to make a chicken go broody and sit on eggs, so I think you'd just have to wait until one of them does?

In my honest opinion and experience of many different breeds and hens hatching eggs themselves, I think the higher up on the pecking order the hen is, the better it all goes. I've had the most luck with cochins being good moms, but our best mom who's raised the best babies very successfully was higher on the pecking order (3rd or 4th highest) cause nobody was 'able' to mess with her or her babies. I've had many low pecking order broodies attacked, and even their chicks attacked before...

What breeds are your bantams, have any of your hens been broody or hatched chicks before?

 

[Mariakissinger132]

I've never heard of a way to make a chicken go broody and sit on eggs, so I think you'd just have to wait until one of them does?

In my honest opinion and experience of many different breeds and hens hatching eggs themselves, I think the higher up on the pecking order the hen is, the better it all goes. I've had the most luck with cochins being good moms, but our best mom who's raised the best babies very successfully was higher on the pecking order (3rd or 4th highest) cause nobody was 'able' to mess with her or her babies. I've had many low pecking order broodies attacked, and even their chicks attacked before...

What breeds are your bantams, have any of your hens been broody or hatched chicks before?

They have all been broody before and the highest in the pecking order is my Brahma and I’m not sure on the breed of the bantams.

 

[Mariakissinger132]

They have all been broody before and the highest in the pecking order is my Brahma and I’m not sure on the breed of the bantams.

They are light brown

 

[Birdie mom]

The only hen I've had sit on eggs was a mix breed, so idk. I am not an expert on any of the breeds you have, but I know that the motherly instinct has been bred out of most chickens. Sometime it just depends on the individual hen's attitude.

 

[Mariakissinger132]

The only hen I've had sit on eggs was a mix breed, so idk. I am not an expert on any of the breeds you have, but I know that the motherly instinct has been bred out of most chickens. Sometime it just depends on the individual hen's attitude.

Ok the highest on the Peking order is my brama and she is the most broody

 

[JaeG]

Old English Game Bantams are fantastic little mothers and most love to go broody over summer. Mine have raised large breed chicks as well as bantams, and one even raised a duckling for me. They teach their babies very well and mine have never pecked me for inspecting their eggs, nest or chicks. I just love them.

Going broody is a hormonal shift, so a hen either is more inclined to go broody genetically or she's not and some breeds are definitely broodier than others.

 

[Birdie mom]

Ok the highest on the Peking order is my brama and she is the most broody

In that case try it with her. Maybe, once you get the chicks, you can put only a few under her to see if she does good with them. If all goes well after that, you could give her the others.