Making a hen go broody on purpose

So I don’t have the time to raise chicks this year and I was gonna let one of my hens do it. I had success before letting them raise store bought chicks. I can’t get the chicks until one goes broody, so I want to encourage one to do so. So far leaving fake eggs in the boxes isn’t doing anything. Thoughts?

I am not qualified to answer. But it's an interesting question!

I'm sure the chicken whisperers will be along shortly with real advice. This will probably not be "put on some Barry White" which is all I have to offer.

Luck!

Haha, Barry White
Things that make mama hens tick to make them broody:
- eggs in the (dark, cozy, peaceful) nestbox
plus
- mellow weather
plus
- plenty of feed

Those are the things I can think of, maybe someone knows things to add?

Breed is a biggie - what breed/s do you have?

I would risk leaving real eggs if you can - I find that chickens can tell a fake egg if she's inclined to. (I would mark them with a grease pencil so you can tell if fresh eggs are being added to the nest.)

Did you have the same coop set-up when you did this in the past?

The weather has been pretty crazy, so maybe your hens just aren't convinced it's spring yet?

Kindof a tangent, but I had muscovy ducks and a turkey that would seem to be almost constantly broody. They would pull chicken and other ducks’ eggs, and at times hens or other ducks under their wing. After a particularly cold night, I went out to see Laverne the spanish cross turkey with a young muscovy hen that she’d helped protect its entire life under her wing, and a sweet blonde orpington under the muscovy’s wing. Muscovies are excellent mothers, and seemed to have very high survival rates until they overpopulated their space. I would bet less inbred chickens would be better mothers than true breeds, which may have had artificial incubators for generations. Americanas have been good hardy free range birds for me, but I have not kept an Americana rooster so don't know about their breeding. I agree with the post above about providing a sweet living situation for them, and babies follow.

Maybe try googling brooding and light cycles. I'm thinking they may also be involved.

Jay Angler wrote:Breed is a biggie - what breed/s do you have?

I would risk leaving real eggs if you can - I find that chickens can tell a fake egg if she's inclined to. (I would mark them with a grease pencil so you can tell if fresh eggs are being added to the nest.)

Did you have the same coop set-up when you did this in the past?

The weather has been pretty crazy, so maybe your hens just aren't convinced it's spring yet?

I have the same set up as before which is one of those amish made shed style ones with the nesting boxes off top the side. I have one light brama that’s a few years old and I’m hoping she will go , also have a jubilee orpington I’m hoping will go broody. I have several other breeds but I don’t remember there broody temperament. I have been using a few fake eggs in the boxes (one in there favorite spot and one to each side) so they don’t try to crowd one box but I think they’re wise to them now. Maybe if I wash the fake eggs or paint them a different color it will trick them. I have four different colored eggs from them so I can just pick one of those colors. I’m weary about using real ones since my hens have a habit of crushing them when it’s crowded.

I think the breed makes a difference: humans have tended to put too broody chickens into the pot...

Apart from the fact that chickens usually start brooding in the spring when it starts warming there isn't much you can do. Just leave eggs uncollected.

I have found chickens like a dark secluded spot. I have nesting boxes uncomfortably turned away from the center of the henhouse - meaning I have to pick eggs on my knees - but chickens love them.

My chickens were brooding like crazy last year, it was quite a circus at times with half of my hens brooding and the rest trying to lay their eggs in front of a hen already was brooding 😀. Sortof "could you find room for one more egg"...