# How do you get chickens to brood?



## BjornBee (Jan 17, 2011)

So far, we have used an incubator to hatch out chics.

For the kids enjoyment, we thought it would be nice for a brood to be raised by a hen, so the process can be a bit more than a memory of turning eggs in a heated box.

We did have a hen sitting on eggs outside the chicken house in December. Those eggs went bad and we returned the chicken to the hen house.

So how do we now encourage a brood of chicks?

Are there any special requirements that will promote a chicken to take up raising brood? We have always just collected eggs every day.

So do you just let the eggs in the nesting boxes and let nature take it's course? Do you isolate a couple chickens and feed in eggs to their nest?

I have no experience in this. I'm not even sure if this is encouraged or a good thing to promote. Any pitfalls to letting hens raise a brood?

Thank you for any advice.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

This time of year you may find a couple of your hens want to hoard eggs and go broody. Leaving the eggs in the nest all day instead of collecting in the morning/afternoon seems to help them decide, but it's usually the hen who just decides "brood...must brood..need eggs". 

A nestbox in a very dark corner seems to be prime territory in our coop. Somewhere they can protect easily.


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## InvalidID (Feb 18, 2011)

I don't think you can encourage them to go broody. At least I haven't been able to. We have 2 hens that will sit on a clutch of eggs every summer and I treat them like gold. 

The first years they set we were caught off guard. I let them hatch the eggs right in the boxes and it worked out ok. We didn't get many hatched that year, but it was a learning experience for us and the hens.
Last year we separated them and gave them each 8 eggs to hatch expecting 6 each. 16 chicks later we had a few extra meals.

All in all I've found that it's a lot easier to let mama raise the chicks than it is to hatch them myself. They don't have the same problems joining the flock this way.


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

I guess some might depend on the chickens you have. Since January I have had 7 hens go broody. Two of them are on the their second turn. One is a Cochin, she didn't hatch anything the first time and she is at it again. My Wyondotte just hatched 10, My Silkie Maran crosses are brooding machines. My turkeys tried it but I had to discourage it because of choice of locations.

They will sit on just one egg or even a fake one and try and hatch it. If you have a hen that is hanging out in the nest, chances are she is gone broody. When I see one setting for more than two days (and I don't take an egg from them if they are sitting there), I then find some nicely still warm eggs that are laid and give them to them and if broody they will take those eggs and pull them under them.


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2011)

Older hens tend to get broody more often than younger ones. Of course, older hens don't lay as many eggs either, so possibly its some kind of natural compensation. I don't believe you can encourage them, but if you keep a couple into their third year or later, they'll hatch off a couple batches apiece per year. At least, that's the way it works for me.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Ann is right.
Put a box in a dark corner and let eggs pile up or fill it with fake eggs.
It may take some time, but you could get a bird that will be willing. Make sure that you can block off that corner for protection for the hen and chicks from the other birds etc.. because moving a hen can break them sometimes.
Somepeople use the covered cat litter boxes as the tease nest. That way you could move her, nest adn all, if you want her to set in a special place.

But you may get nothing...


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

All my chickens are brooding now are under a year old.

When moving a mother and her clutch, you have to do it at night or in the dark at least. I have some lights in my coops. I found that the mother will freak out a little, but two of the times that happened I shown a flashlight on the eggs. When she saw the eggs she calmed down and got right on them. Then I left it dark for the rest of the night.

Moving my Cochin didn't work, but I moved to to new eggs (hers where all pooped up). Hers should have hatched all ready, so I tried to start the cycle again, but it didn't work--she is now broody again anyway.

However with a Silkie mix I have I moved her with no problem but her eggs broke and never hatched. I gave her 4 new eggs, but she was already penned up and she didn't manage to hatch one of them (and then I gave her 4 more babies).


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

A lot is genetics. Most of mine have a lot of game in them. Except in summer when snakes are out, I have somebody brooding or raising a batch constantly. Sometimes several at once.

Try leaving a clutch of golf balls in the spot you want someone to set. Check daily and remove actual eggs until you get someone setting tight on the golf balls. Then take away the golf balls and let her have a clutch of the real eggs.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Bantams seem to go broody fairly easy. Just let the eggs pile up for a few days, and usually a little banty hen will sit on them.


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