Buff Orpington girl won’t leave nestbox in dead winter

[Estrella]

Oh wow that looks amazing I would love something like that - in fact just discussing building some kind of shelter for the coop to stop the automatic door from freezing shut! - do they roost out on the bars at night or go into the smaller hut? All we have is a wooden coop which does have some insulation with an automatic door - it also has a nesting box inside the coop (not one of those outside but attached ones) and that was where she hatched the chicks, no heating at all. In November while she was sitting it wasnt too cold - around -2 but some days much warmer - it was when the chicks were around 3 weeks we had snow and much colder temps - they came out everyday whatever the weather - but there is a polytunnel for shelter and lots of foraging / bush coverage around.

Wow, that's so interesting! I thought the small ones would not make it in the cold! Yes, some of my chickens roost in the green coop, my Swedish Flower Hens, Abdullah, and his ladies. The rest of the crew roosts outside in the covered yard. There are four nest boxes in the green coop, attached (American style), just as yours are. They also have an old crate from a French carboy in there where some of the girls prefer to lay their eggs. The one attached to the greenhouse in the picture I just bought cause I liked it; they don't seem to take any interest at all. I put a fake egg in there but so far, no interest. We'll see when my French and half-French ladies stary to lay. I let them outside every day but they never set their foot in the snow; they just stand in the door and look out. We have two automatic doors, one on the green hut (for extra safety if needed) and one on the covered yard that leads them out in the garden (from Kerbil). How many chickens did you get, and what's the roo/hen ratio? I hatched in hatcher and got 9 roos and 1 hen. Twice!

 

[Jaine]

Wow, that's so interesting! I thought the small ones would not make it in the cold! Yes, some of my chickens roost in the green coop, my Swedish Flower Hens, Abdullah, and his ladies. The rest of the crew roosts outside in the covered yard. There are four nest boxes in the green coop, attached (American style), just as yours are. They also have an old crate from a French carboy in there where some of the girls prefer to lay their eggs. The one attached to the greenhouse in the picture I just bought cause I liked it; they don't seem to take any interest at all. I put a fake egg in there but so far, no interest. We'll see when my French and half-French ladies stary to lay. I let them outside every day but they never set their foot in the snow; they just stand in the door and look out. We have two automatic doors, one on the green hut (for extra safety if needed) and one on the covered yard that leads them out in the garden (from Kerbil). How many chickens did you get, and what's the roo/hen ratio? I hatched in hatcher and got 9 roos and 1 hen. Twice!

Thank you for this - i would love to see more pictures of the covered area if you can - did you make this yourself? i want to put both coops inside a covered area like this. Well with the roo / hen ratio when i hatched my first lot of barred rocks myself from mail order eggs i got 5 roos and one hen - second hatch i got 3 roos and 3 hens - and the first hatch with the buff hen (not sure what she is now) was 2 roos and one hen - and i am sure with this new hatch we have 2 roos and 6 hens - i would be very interested to know if cold weather may have played a part in more hens - or perhaps being in the coop with the roosters - however saying that i do need to get some pictures up and get them properly sexed. Just in the last 2 days we have had a lot of snow but they have all been out and about - even coming up to the house - heres a few pics of the chicks and hen from today and one of the coops - it is insulated inside! What did you do with all the roos?

 

[Estrella]

Thank you for this - i would love to see more pictures of the covered area if you can - did you make this yourself? i want to put both coops inside a covered area like this. Well with the roo / hen ratio when i hatched my first lot of barred rocks myself from mail order eggs i got 5 roos and one hen - second hatch i got 3 roos and 3 hens - and the first hatch with the buff hen (not sure what she is now) was 2 roos and one hen - and i am sure with this new hatch we have 2 roos and 6 hens - i would be very interested to know if cold weather may have played a part in more hens - or perhaps being in the coop with the roosters - however saying that i do need to get some pictures up and get them properly sexed. Just in the last 2 days we have had a lot of snow but they have all been out and about - even coming up to the house - heres a few pics of the chicks and hen from today and one of the coops - it is insulated inside! What did you do with all the roos?

That is so cute, moma hen with her chicks in winter! Yeah, I also see 3 roos and 3 hens there. Ok, so what did I do with all the roos? 1st time I actually sold every single one of them, and kept one; he is gigantic and very handsome, I’ll post a picture. The second batch I sold to a farm nearby who keep free rangers for meat. I have read somewhere, don’t know how scientific it is, but some univeristy did an experiment where they hatched at slightly different temperatures and got morw hens when they lowered the temps, only by 0.5 degrees to 37. Their theory was that roo eggs didn’t develop as well with the slightly lower temperature. I’ll post a few pictures here. Last one is coop at night, my neighbours call it the space ship.

 

[Jaine]

That is so cute, moma hen with her chicks in winter! Yeah, I also see 3 roos and 3 hens there. Ok, so what did I do with all the roos? 1st time I actually sold every single one of them, and kept one; he is gigantic and very handsome, I’ll post a picture. The second batch I sold to a farm nearby who keep free rangers for meat. I have read somewhere, don’t know how scientific it is, but some univeristy did an experiment where they hatched at slightly different temperatures and got morw hens when they lowered the temps, only by 0.5 degrees to 37. Their theory was that roo eggs didn’t develop as well with the slightly lower temperature. I’ll post a few pictures here. Last one is coop at night, my neighbours call it the space ship.

Thank you your set up looks so welcoming and cosy, we are working on plans - really want something just like yours but a bit higher to go right over our coop and our other coop too - your roo is very beautiful - they are such magnificent creatures its a shame its so hard to keep them. Thats great that you got the roos homed, for my first hatch we lost 2 of them to next doors dog and we kept 2 my barred rock rooster is enormous too - we call him Colossus and his brother Goliath - for the second hatch i sold all 3 of them - ah so yes it might be more hens for me this time as it was colder when she hatched them. I have got some more photos here too - the other 2 roosters outside the house are hybrids from the buff hen and the barred rock male. They have to go soon . I will get some of C and G tomorrow - they look quite different.

 

[canne50]

Hi all you smart people out there; I have a 10 month old Buff Orpington girl who spends the entire days in the nest box - in the middle of the coldest winter in years in Sweden - without laying any eggs. She will eventually get up and roost at night, but she runt to the preferred nestbox early in the morning and stays there all day. Today I took her out and examined her, she growled at me, she seems completely healthy but I discovered she has very little feathers on her back as our rooster is gigantic and she is his favourite, so I put a saddle on her and released her back in the coop, where she swooshed right back into the nesting box. What is she doing? Is the preparing to go broody? It’s feezing outside, like several degrees below, so this is really not the time… Is she hiding from our rooster? I am considering selling him to give her some peace and quiet. Have anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

Blocking access to the laying box after warmer weather returns may break the habit.

 

[Estrella]

Ok, so me again, and she’s back at it! Much better weather now with temps on the plus side so I’ll let her have it. She’s managed to lay TWO of her own eggs in the nestbox today, but I am waiting on a few Silverudds eggs which will arrive on tuesday… So my question is - can I remove her own eggs now (just laid) and put them back under her on tuesday with the other eggs?

 

[Estrella]

Awesome, thank you, I will keep her happy and cozy until then!

 

[Scooter1A]

Hello. I have 3 buffs now and I like them. They just started laying eggs at 5 months and I noticed one had kind of buried hers. I would like one to go broody. Maybe they all 3 will? My question is if they hatch out how do I feed the chicks? Should I give them the medicated feed? All my hens are healthy. I have rhode island reds also but I can separate them depending on what box she decides to go broody in.