What Breeds of Chicken Are Known Sitters?

Many people who raise chickens prefer to do it the old-fashioned way: under a hen who will sit on her own eggs (commonly referred to as a broody hen). Broody hens are infinitely valuable to people seeking incubators and mothers for baby chicks and endlessly irritating to people who only want their chickens to lay lots of eggs. Knowing which breeds tend to be broody and which do not helps potential chicken owners to select the proper breed for their particular situation.

  1. Broody Hen 101

    • Broody hens generally come from favorite barnyard breeds and not breeds like the Leghorn, which have been selectively bred for commercial egg production. Broody hens lay eggs, and after they have a sufficient clutch, they will begin incubating the eggs, whether they are fertile or not. Broody hens will incubate any eggs they see, regardless of the mother or the breed of poultry. Often, broody hens are used to raise more valuable chicks, such as those from pea fowl.

    Standard Broodies

    • Standard breed hens are often overlooked as broody hens. The advantages to using larger broody hens are numerous, including their ability to hatch more eggs and raise more chicks. A larger hen is going to be better able to defend her chicks from small predators like cats. Many types of standard breed hens tend to be broody, including Araucana, Aseel, Australorp, Brahma, Chantecler, Cochin, Cubalaya, Dominique, Dorking, Faverolles, Java, Malay, Marans, Old English Game, Orpington and Sussex.

    Bantam Broodies

    • Bantams are infamous for their brooding abilities. Silkies and bantam Cochins are frequently used by hobby farmers for raising chicks. The bantams tend to be protective mothers, though they cannot hatch as many chicks. They will generally foster up to three times as many chicks as they have hatched, however. Bantam broodies include Barbu D'Anver, Barbu D'Uccle, Cochin, Dutch, Japanese, Old English Game bantam and Silkie.

    Flushing a Broody

    • There is no way to make a hen broody which is not, but there are ways to find one with the potential to raise a lot of chicks. The easiest way to flush a broody is to stop collecting eggs. After a few days, you may find a hen who begins to linger in the nest. Keep an eye on her, but do not disturb her. If she seems to be sitting on the nest constantly, approach her and attempt to gently lift her. If she hisses or attempts to peck you, she is broody. Don't be discouraged if she fails to hatch or raise her first or even second clutch of chicks -- most broody chickens get the hang of motherhood fairly quickly.