Best broody hens in existence

If you want eggs hatched and chicks raised without an incubator, get a Silkie. My hen Minerva has raised four clutches of chicks in three years, including duck eggs and guinea fowl eggs. She sits with monastic dedication for 21 days, raises her chicks with fierce protectiveness, and is back on a nest within weeks. No incubator matches the success rate or the care quality of a committed Silkie broody. They're extraordinary surrogate mothers.