Chicken Breeds: Best Broody Hens

The breeds on this page are most likely to go broody and hatch chicks. These broody chicken breeds are great choices if you would like to hatch new chicks every year without using an incubator!

The mothering instincts have been bred out of most chicken breeds in favor of productivity, so usually only a small number of hatchery-bred birds will actually hatch chicks. To maximize the chances of your birds hatching out chicks, look for birds from small farms that were actually raised by mama hens.

Sometimes chicken owners that are more production minded will actually give away their broody hens! I have a few broody hens that I acquired this way.

Need help getting a broody hen to actually hatch out chicks? Learn how to hatch eggs with a broody hen right here!

This is a work in progress and this list is very much incomplete, but we are adding new breeds all the time!

Note: Breeders come up with new colors every year, and many are not recognized by the APA. The colors listed for each breed are often just a few of the many colors available!

Disclaimer: this page may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Some of the additional best broody hens breeds we will be adding to this page include the Aseel, Booted Bantam, Cochin, Cornish and Silkie, among others!

You can find more chicken breeds here: Find a Chicken Breed.

New to Chickens?

Check out these informative pages!

Backyard Chickens for Beginners. This page gives you the rundown on everything you need to know to get started with chickens. Learn the terminology, make an informed decision about whether to start with chicks or adult chickens, and get a better idea of the time and monetary commitment of keeping chickens.

What Do You Need to Get Started With Backyard Chickens? This page has both Amazon links and a printable checklist with everything you need to get started once you find the perfect chicken breed!

List of chicken breeds included on this page:

Begian Bearded d’Uccle
Brahma
Dominique
Faverolle
Japanese Bantam
Marans
Orpington (Buff Orpington)
Sussex

Once you find a chicken breed (or several!) that looks right for you, we recommend McMurray hatchery for purchasing healthy mail order chicks. We’ve been using McMurray for ten years and have always been happy with the chicks and the service!

Finally, our number 1 resource for new or experienced chicken keepers is Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. As long time chicken keepers, we still use this reference book all the time.

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