I'd like to try mixed flock this spring to see which i might want to be a 'principal bird' to raise. Among them will be--i think-- BO s and Austrlrps. I know both go broody, BO s perhaps are legendary. BUT i don't want a bunch of broody hens around half the time that have to be 'broken'. So, if i got like 5 and 5 whaddya think are the odds of super broodiness. this possibility really makes me pause about getting either breed. thoughts? tx
I have one BO and one Australorp. My BO went broody for like 3 weeks. I couldn't break her at all, and then she snapped out of it on her own. My Australorp hasn't gone broody at all. She has also laid the most eggs of the four hens I have.
I have or had 3 of each. None have ever gone broody, and they are almost 3 years old. I have a couple that sorta thought about it but quit. They wouldn't stay on the nest all the time, and after a week or so they quit altogether.
I had 4 Australorps and 11 Buff Orps over the summer. None of the Aussies went broody, but 9 of the Buff Orps went broody at least once during the summer (one of them even went broody in March and kept on being broody off and on through October ). Your question really depends on the strain. For example, I have Buff Orps from McMurray and Cackle. The McMurray Buff Orps tended to be VERY broody off and on all summer. The Buff Orps from Cackle didn't go broody near as much. Two of them never went broody and the other two only went broody once. My four Australorps were from McMurray and they never showed broodiness.
thank you for the replies. i am glad to see that some keep australorps. wasn't sure many would do so. i might order from M-M, and maybe keep BO s out of the pic for now. i am certainly getting brd. rks. and probably rir s, and definitely a bunch of the 'red hybrid' layers
I have to say I am unimpressed by the BOs so far. I got a handful of them this past spring and one already went broody on me, 2 are feather pickers, and one has a facial deformity. Maybe just my bad luck, but I am not pleased with them at all. If I were to do it over again (knowing what I know now) I would have skipped on the BOs.
Quote:Hmmm...where did you get your BO's? Mine are like little dogs...they want attention, follow me around, jump on my lap. They get along with the entire flock (except they stand their ground with "ornery" roosters), even accept younger chicks in the mix. I am thrilled I got them. I have 2 Australorps and 3 BO's. They are all just under a year old. Not once have they gone broody. Not once. And I would welcome it! They started laying in July.
I'm not impressed with the BOs either. I got 4 last spring. They aren't that consistent at laying and the eggs are kind of small sometimes. I had one go broody last month and judging from the bites on my hand I got this morning in the nest box, I may have another one that's broody now. The EEs are really better, bigger layers but... if you think you need a broody to sit on some fertile eggs, the BO may come in handy. There is a value in that I suppose. Lisa
I LOVE my Buff Orpingtons.. the funny thing is that lady that rehomed the rooster and 6 hens to me said that they WOULDN'T go broody and sit on their own eggs.. she had Cochins to hatch out her BO eggs..Out of 5 grown hens, we were getting 3 or 4 eggs each day.. now that some are molting I have a weird 1 egg, 3 egg, 1 egg pattern going... I have to say that I am excited about the possibility of one of mine going broody one of these days... and YES.. I am sure I will complain about all the broodiness when I have a large flock of grown hens of various breeeds.. like anything new.. it will be fun for a while.. I started with 1 rooster and 6 hens in May.. we lost 4 to a predator attack in October and replaced with 3 grown hens and 7 pullets.. I also have 17 chicks in the brooder and numerous eggs in the incubator. My Chickens are super sweet and follow me around for attention. I don't any any other grown birds to compare them to, so my experience is extremely limited. I look forward to seeing how different breeds interact with both me and the flock. Chicks in the brooder are BO, Blue Orpingtons, and BLRW.. Shelly
