The Flock · A field guide

The broodiest chicken breeds
and best mother hens.

For the flock you want to raise naturally.

10common breeds
to compare

149rarer breeds
in the records

Choosing your flock

Some hens were made to mother.

Modern laying breeds have had broodiness bred out of them, because a hen sitting on eggs is a hen not laying. But if you want your flock to renew itself without an incubator, you need the opposite: a breed that still goes broody, sits tight for the full 21 days, and mothers the chicks after they hatch. It is the cheapest way to grow a flock, and the most reliable.

These 159 breeds are rated strongly broody. The Silkie is the going rate for a foster mother — she will hatch anything, including duck and quail eggs — while Cochins, Orpingtons and the Old English Game hens are steady, protective setters. Keep one or two in a laying flock and you have a living incubator that also raises what it hatches.

The breed records

Meet the ten.

10 breeds, with the details that matter for this guide.

Find a breed10 breeds

Swipe across the table to see every detail.

Breed	Broody	Temperament	Size	Kept for	Eggs / year
Aseel	High	Aggressive, active	Standard	Game	40–80
Booted Bantam	High	Docile, friendly	True bantam	Ornamental	120–160
Cochin	High	Docile, calm	Standard	Ornamental	110–160
Dorking	High	Calm, docile	Standard	Dual-purpose	140–190
Japanese Bantam	High	Friendly, docile	True bantam	Ornamental	60–90
Old English Game	High	Aggressive, bold	Standard	Game	100–160
Old English Game Bantam	High	Active, bold	Bantam	Exhibition	120–160
Orpington	High	Docile, friendly	Standard	Dual-purpose	180–200
Silkie	High	Docile, calm	Bantam	Ornamental	100–120
Sumatra	High	Active, flighty	Standard	Ornamental	50–100

Rarer breeds that also fit

These match too, but few or no US hatcheries stock them — expect a breeder waitlist.

Algerian Local Chicken · American Game · Ankaleshwar · Ayam Burgo · Ayam Kampung · Ayam Kampung (Malaysia) · Ayam Kapas · Ayam Katik · Baladi (Egyptian) · Banaba · Banat Naked Neck · Barbu d'Anvers · and 137 more

Put it to work

Keep exploring.

From the field guides

Hatching eggs under a broody hen

Equipment & supplies

The broody-hen equipment checklist

Breed facts from our open chicken-breed database, cross-checked against US hatchery listings, the Livestock Conservancy’s 2026 priority list and the American Poultry Association. Lay rates are a healthy hen’s good year, not a guarantee.