Things You'll Need
- A setting hen
- A lined cage
- Fertile eggs
Instructions
Select a breed of chickens known for their protective, mothering instincts. Bantams are a good example (there are many others--usually less common breeds because instincts have been bred out of most modern laying hens).
Watch the flock of chickens for signs of broodiness, when one or more will begin to sit on a nest and not want to rise. Other signs can include puffing up and making growling sounds at your approach.
Once this behavior begins, move the chicken to an individual cage to set the eggs (fertilized by the resident rooster, or fertilized eggs brought in by you) Be sure to bring her food and water once a day. Keeping the brooding chicken separate will help to avoid the problem of other chickens sitting on her eggs who are not brooding, and the mother hen being displaced.