Wondering about Broodiness of these Breeds.....

[Bleenie]

I am getting far ahead of myself here BUT, I am debating over letting my hens(currently just pullets at 4.5mo old) hatch babies of thir own or buying more chicks later on to replenish the youth of the egg laying flock. So I am wondering how broody my girls are likely to be?

My girls are Barred Rocks(2), Rhode Island Reds(2), Buff Wyandottes(4) & Black EE's(4). My new Roo is a handsome Splash BLRW, so the female chicks they produce should be reasonably good future layers.... I hope

So, how often can I expect the girls to go broody after they are mature?

 

[catterbug]

I think your EE's may be the best for broodiness, at least from what I know about all of your breeds. I am newer to the world of chickens so maybe someone with a little more experience can chip in. Either way I will bump this.

 

[Bleenie]

The EE's are (i think!) a mix of Black Australorp & Ameraucauna. They're all jet black, bearded & single combed. I thought I would add that so you guys can get a better idea of how the EE's might be as broodies.

 

[Grim]

too young to tell. most breeds have had broodiness breed out of them. it can be hit or miss. just give them time and keep watch on them. you have a dozen so at least one will probably go broody this year. if you have the patience, give them a year, that maternal instinct tends to kick in a bit stronger the older they get. and if a hen goes broody once she usually will again. if you want to raise your own chickens. breed for broodiness. if you have a hen that goes broody consistently. try to hatch some eggs from her. this is probably beyond what you were asking.

 

[Tala]

You might wanna book mark this http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html it's very handy

 

[Attack Chicken]

I vote wyandottes...I have 3 broody bantam wyandottes right now.. between the 3 of them they've been broody 7 times now I believe.

 

[Bleenie]

I was thinking that the Wyandottes might be my best bet, but I was only going off of their body type, lol. I remember our old laying hens and that the "fatter" looking ones were the ones that usually sat on eggs.

I appreciate all the info. I am not worried about adding chicks right away, so I don't mind waiting. I can also incubate but I would really like it if they would brood the chicks themselves since I will have plenty of ducklings in my brooder.

 

[Bleenie]

Thank you for that link, very informative but also disappointing

. Maybe I will add a bantam hen later on to do the brooding for me, I could probaby fit a fair amount of standard-size eggs under a little banty hen, right? I never had any of my Cochins sit on other chicken eggs, just a few duck eggs for me.

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