Broody!

[BeLaL]

Hello everybody.

I have 5 Buff Orpingtons, and all of them are almost 7 months old. and i have 4 months old Americana rooster. So the question is. Can 7 months old be broody? And what about the rooster? he's still 4 months old. but i have seen him doing his job.

Oh, i dont have hay in the nesting boxes just piece of carpets. So. does it require to get them some hay in case wants to start brood ?

One more question Thanks. at what age chickens stop laying eggs?

Thanks alot.

 

[AlienChick]

Some chickens never go broody and some go broody all the time.
Chickens vary in age when they might go broody; it's a hormonal thing and not an age thing.
You'll know your chicken is broody when she does not want to leave the nest.
Carpet in the nests will become very disgusting with poop (unless you plan to change the carpets every day or so).
You can fill the nests with anything you have around (shavings, straw, hay, grass clippings, fallen leaves, feathers, etc.).
You do not NEED hay; it is just something most farms have a lot of laying around, so we use it.

 

[RockerHen]

I've heard hens that young going broody, especially silkies. I'm not sure about the rooster being fertile yet. 4 months is awfully young. To be sure, you can catch a hen immediately after he's 'mated' her and check for the presence of semen on her vent. Hay is not required, but my broody hens prefer to have some sort of substrate (hay, shavings, etc) to make a nest with. Chicken egg production steadily decreases. They lay best their first two years, then go down from there. There's no set age for a chicken to stop laying. Hens have a finite number of eggs within them, though, so I suppose after many years they could just 'run out'.

 

[BeLaL]

Thank you so much guys for your help.

 

[cary 1973]

My girls were hatched first week in April 3 out of 4 of them have gone broody 2 of them are on there second time (go figure its my leghorns who are known for NOT going broody) my buff orphington is the only one who has not gone broody and from what I was told is a very good broody chicken.