Can a 6 month Buff Oprington be broody?

[Mom2Cool]

ok I guess I'm still a novice with a million questions here. I've a Buff Orpington that is really only 6 months old & she has been in 1 of the nesting cubbies since yesterday morning. I hadn't expected to have to deal with any broody chickens yet because Ididn't think that would happen at such a young age. And then I thought today maybe she's actually getting sick on me. Looking at her I didn't get the impression she's ill though & I think that's why it hadn't occured to me. She just seem like she's "sitting". I feel bad because every time I go to get eggs I'm opening the top of the nest on her & as you all know yesterday we had a horrid snow storm & there was snow falling in the crack as I opened the top lid.

Anyway is this a girl "going broody" ? I wished I could have known & made it work if possible because I've actually got eggs on the way to put in the incubator.

 

[azelgin]

It's very possible she is going broody. I had three of my Wyandottes pull that on me at about that age. I wasn't ready for more chicks, so we didn't give them any eggs to hatch. Is she evil when you try to reach under her? That would be a pretty sure sign she wants to brood.

 

[wolfie]

When at what age can they be broody my BO is 8 months old and has never been broody.

 

[azelgin]

Quote:
My BOs are 10 months and none of them has shown any interest either. I think it's just one of those deals. Only they decide when they're ready:/

 

[ilovechickens]

I had a 6 month old Banty go broodie and hatch a chick the end of October. My cochin's from last spring have not gone broody at all so far. So I guess it depends on the chicken.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I've had young BO pullets just start to lay for a few weeks and go Broody on me. So it happens.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Well frankly I haven't tested her evilness by trying to stick a hand under her. My Opringtons are like sweet baby dolls & so I don't normally expect that but I did notice "a look" that said "don't test me". I didn't bother with it at the time because I just thought I was disrupting her egg laying yesterday. I'd come back later & she was still there & I thought "huh?" & as I thought about it I realized that she was in there late the night before. Because of the snow it was easy to miss things because we were preparing for the cold etc. It seems to me every time I see her she has puffed herself up a bit more & that's what made me really pause today because her feathers are nearly covering the entire nesting box. It was pretty warm out last week & really just the day before I think when this all started. The weather changed over night & by midnight that night the storm hit & the preverbial poop hit the fan & now (of course now that I have eggs coming through the mail) it's freezing. I wished she & I both would have waited now because if I'd have prepared better I could & would have just stuck some under her. LOL Hatching in the incubator has been an experiment but seeing them outside with a hen would be a hoot too & she'll be a lot more reliable than the incubator.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Quote:
If she's puffing up, and growling/hissing when you get near, chances are she's broody. My youngest BO was 7 months when she went broody. She is also very sweet, so she just protested when I took all the eggs out from under her, but didn't fight me otherwise.

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Well and this is exactly the case here for my BO's. They only started laying eggs the beginning of Jan. I was a bit puzzled yesterday & really didn't think this could be it or I wouldn't have been fooling with the stupid incubator but figuring out the "how to's of setting her up in a good place etc.

Of course the next question is what is under her because I had incubated a few eggs a 21 days ago & they were all fertile so if she's on eggs do I need to move her out of there? There's more than one box but I've heard a hen should be on her own so the others don't kill chicks etc. Or should I be "breaking her up from it"? If I just allow her to sit it out is it like something that will turn ugly on me in the way of the others wanting to kill them? I hadn't figured any of this out yet because I didn't think it would be an issue for a long time. I really don't have a whole separate coop to put her in I don't know where I'd move her to. If it was even spring yet I do have a pen that has an open fron but I can't put her in that now with it so cold & all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Check out this site. It is great.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/broody-hens-1.html