Buff Orpingtons - Questions

[moderndayhippy]

We have the chance to purchase some Buff Orpingtons from my MIL's neighbor. I know that she takes VERY good care of these chickens, and she said that right now they are being broody and wanting to sit and hatch their eggs.

I've been doing some research about this breed and have found that they are gentle and good with children, curious in nature, prolific layers, cold hearty, and all around nice birds from everything I've read.

So my question is this......are these hens broody to the point that they will not give up their eggs each day when we come to gather in the morning? We currently have Black Sexlinks and they are not broody in the least. They lay their eggs and go outside to their run, allowing us to gather eggs without any problems at all. Do you think that the Buff Orps would peck us if we tried to gather their eggs? Do you think that they would get along ok with our Black Sexlinks?

We do not have any roosters, and do not plan on getting any. We only have our chickens for pets/eggs, so we have no intent of hatching any eggs, which is why we don't need hens to sit on them. Just thought I would specify why I am asking these types of questions, and how it relates to our specific needs.

Thank you very much for any help that anyone can offer. Of course we want to do right by the chickens, and not get a breed that won't mingle well with what we currently have. We also don't want to get pecked when trying to retrieve eggs, so this is a concern for me.

Thanks again!

 

[bufforp89]

My BOs are always trying to go broody but I can reach right under them and get eggs, they are very gentle. If one gives me trouble I just pick it up and put it outside.

 

[Kittymomma]

If they're broody they won't even lay any eggs. You can give them some fertile eggs to hatch, try grafting some day-old chicks onto them at night, or put them in a broody buster so they'll stop being broody and start laying eggs again.

ETA: My BO is a little witch and bites if I try to get into her nest, most seem to be gentle but she's not. As far as the other chickens go you really should quarantine no matter how well cared for the chooks are. Different places have different strains of things and what doesn't bother hers or yours at all, can make the other group quite ill. The two groups of chooks won't like each other at first and after quarintine is over you'll have to spend some time integrating them. It can be a pain, but is very doable, just takes some time and patience.

 

[moderndayhippy]

Thank you for the replies. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

[Catstar68]

My BO is broody right now. For the past week she has been sitting and I can put my hand right under her and take whatever eggs I want (I have 9 marked for her to keep, the rest get taken out as she lays them) and she just trills a bit but never pecks or bites. She is super gentle.
When she was not broody she did not sit much in the nest so collecting eggs from her was never a problem anyway. My BO and my barred rocks are the nicest birds.

 

[lockedhearts]

My Bo girls have not really tried hard to go broody, but then again I collect the eggs daily. Mine are very laid back.

 

[gryeyes]

I have a mixed flock of a few different LF breeds, but NONE of the pullets are broody, or have gone broody. They're pretty young, actually, won't be a year old until October. (The 2 Lakenvelders are hens now, a year old in March, but they're certainly not broody types!)

Everybody lets me take eggs out from under them. Most of them lay and leave, but since they do share nest boxes, somebody might be laying with a few other eggs. I can still reach under them all and get eggs.

Of the breeds I have (in my signature), I think only the Buff Orpington is "supposed" to go broody on occasion. (Perhaps the bantam Cochins might, but THAT'S a LONG time away; they're only 10 weeks old or so right now.)

Buffy the Fluffy Vampire Slayer Chicken is a sweetheart.

 

[Catstar68]

Buffy is so fluffy

I love buff Orpingtons!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

It depends on the personality of the hen. I have 15 hens and only 1 will peck. The others will growl or fluff up. Out of the 15, I have 8 that will go broody at least once a year, but I retain broodies since I like that trait.

 

[Cowgirl71]

I have been very happy with my 11 BOs, they are beautiful hens! They are however (for me) the first to want to lay somewhere other than the nest boxes and they go broody VERY easily. When they go broody, they of course stop laying, so eggs can be scarce during the summer.

10 of mine are very gentle, even when they're broody, but the 11th likes to peck, HARD.