Breeding for broodiness...

[KJV1611]

I'm relatively new to chicken keeping. I have a Buff Orpington rooster, 4 Black Star hens (RIR/BR), 4 Cinnamon Queens (RIR/SLW), and 3 Barred Rocks. Starting next spring, I would like to hatch out some chicks to add to my flock. My question is, does anyone here have experience with 1/2 breed Buff Orps? I know pure bred BO hens have a tendency to go broody, but do half breeds ever go broody, especially if the BO genes are from the rooster? From what I hear, the Black Stars, Cinnamon Queens, and Barred Rocks aren't known to go broody very often. I understand cross breeding hybrid hens is probably a roll of the dice. But I was just curious if anyone had some experience with this.

 

[nuthatched]

Get yourself a silkie or two, they'll brood at the drop of a hat.
Any chicken can go broody or not go broody, they're individuals.

 

[KJV1611]

Get yourself a silkie or two, they'll brood at the drop of a hat.
Any chicken can go broody or not go broody, they're individuals.

Yeah, I'm sure there are BOs that never go broody, and BR that do. I get that. I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with half bred BOs.

As far as Silkies are concerned, Number 1, they are bantams. I have a rather large BO rooster, I think he would do some damage to them during mating. Number 2, all my hens are large, a few are extra large. Bullying could also be a problem. Number 3, and please don't take offense to this, I think they are one of the creepiest looking chickens I have ever seen. Just looking at a picture of one, I mean that is the stuff of nightmares.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

A lot of people say that a Hen's likelihood of brooding comes from their father.

Almost all of my birds have gone broody at least once, apart from my D'anvers and polish bantams. Lots were hatchery chicks and lots were hatched here by an incubator or a hen

 

[NatJ]

As far as Silkies are concerned, Number 1, they are bantams. I have a rather large BO rooster, I think he would do some damage to them during mating. Number 2, all my hens are large, a few are extra large. Bullying could also be a problem. Number 3, and please don't take offense to this, I think they are one of the creepiest looking chickens I have ever seen. Just looking at a picture of one, I mean that is the stuff of nightmares.

You could try some Old English Game bantams. I had some from Ideal Poultry that went broody quite nicely. Of course a specific hen might go broody or might not, but they did seem to have a pretty high rate of ones that were willing to set.

Point 1 about the large rooster hurting them, might be an issue. Keeping them in a separate coop would be one workaround (if you want to separate them for setting on eggs and raising chicks, they could just live in that coop all the time.)

Point 2 might or might not be an issue. With no feathers around their face, they see quite well. They can run fast, fly well, and some of them have rather forceful personalities. So they can either evade bullies, or may take charge of the flock.

Point 3 would not apply, as they are not Silkies. They just look like slender little chickens.

(If you want to go with standard sized hens, that is fine. Just thought I'd share what broodies I had found. And of course you will know sometime next spring whether your current ones are willing to go broody.)

 

[dekel18042]

You could try some Old English Game bantams. I had some from Ideal Poultry that went broody quite nicely. Of course a specific hen might go broody or might not, but they did seem to have a pretty high rate of ones that were willing to set.

Point 1 about the large rooster hurting them, might be an issue. Keeping them in a separate coop would be one workaround (if you want to separate them for setting on eggs and raising chicks, they could just live in that coop all the time.)

Point 2 might or might not be an issue. With no feathers around their face, they see quite well. They can run fast, fly well, and some of them have rather forceful personalities. So they can either evade bullies, or may take charge of the flock.

Point 3 would not apply, as they are not Silkies. They just look like slender little chickens.

(If you want to go with standard sized hens, that is fine. Just thought I'd share what broodies I had found. And of course you will know sometime next spring whether your current ones are willing to go broody.)

Just wanted to mention I agree with you on the OEGB's. My bantams and large fowl are together. In addition to OEGBs I also have Mille fleur d'uccles and a cochin bantam. I now have OEGB and mille fleur roosters, but when I had only the bantam hens in with my flock, my roosters ignored them as far as breeding was concerned and the bantams are definitely not at the bottom of the pecking order.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Right now I am breeding for crosses, but once I have the clans set I'll let any broodies set ONLY their own eggs. So the only genes that will get passed on are from broodies.

 

[dekel18042]

Right now I am breeding for crosses, but once I have the clans set I'll let any broodies set ONLY their own eggs. So the only genes that will get passed on are from broodies.

The only thought that struck me is that hens who go broody lay less eggs than those who don't. I did have mixed breeds hatching eggs, but right now my broodies are my bantams and they are quite happy hatching any hens' eggs.
I find it more productive to keep my large fowl producing eggs and let the bantams have eggs to hatch. The only disadvantage I can see is they can't cover as many eggs.
If any of my LF hens go broody I will give them a chance to hatch eggs. I now have some cochin pullets so that might be a possibility.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Sure, but broodiness is part of my goal. At this point the eggs are a side benefit. Any hen that just stays broody is going to self-eliminate. Any hen that doesn't go broody at all will also self-eliminate in the long term.

 

[NatJ]

Right now I am breeding for crosses, but once I have the clans set I'll let any broodies set ONLY their own eggs. So the only genes that will get passed on are from broodies.

I'm curious about the practical details of this. When a hen goes broody, she quits laying eggs. At that point it is too late to start collecting her eggs for hatching. Also, hens tend to share nests, so their eggs are all mixed up in one nest (or a few nests.)

Are you going to collect and mark every egg, then if a hen goes broody you can give her own eggs back to her?

Or leave all the eggs in the nests in hopes that a hen goes broody? (But she might set on old eggs, and on eggs from other hens.)

Or keep the hens in individual cages, so they cannot possibly share nests, and let the eggs build up in each nest so the hen can hatch them if she does go broody?

If they are free ranging, there is some chance of each hen choosing her own nest, then going broody and hatching her own eggs. But even then, there is a very high chance that several hens will lay eggs in the same nest.

As a practical matter, it might be easier label each hen who does go broody (maybe with a specific color of legband), and then the next time she is laying, you can collect her eggs for hatching (still need a way to be sure which eggs are hers, if the eggs all look alike). Or if enough of your flock goes broody in the spring, remove all the ones that don't (cull them or sell them or just keep them in a separate pen), and then only hatch eggs from the pen of hens that have a history of going broody.