Hens not laying, not broody, no chicks :(

[julesbug]

We bought 3 jubilee orpington hens and 1 rooster last March/April. At that time they were around 6 months old. They are in a nice covered 12x16 coop with attached run by themselves and I have other laying hens about 30 feet across from them. We bought them to have chicks and they have yet to get broody, they hardly lay any eggs, they don't use the nesting boxes and never have, and they don't roost (because the place we got them from had a weird set up). None of our chickens free range because of our dog. They are fed 16% protein pellets. I don't know what else I can say, but I have no idea why they aren't laying much, why they haven't gotten broody and had chicks. Any guesses/advice that could help me understand??

 

[NatJ]

We don't supplement light and don't intend to.

We are getting plenty of eggs for eating for other hens...

Some chickens seem able to lay eggs during naturally short winter days, and some do not.
I don't know why that is so, but I would guess that your Orpingtons are taking the winter off, and that your other hens are from breeds that are better layers.

The Orpingtons will probably start laying again when the days get longer in the spring.
If you get an incubator, you can hatch the eggs as soon as they start laying.
Or you can wait to see if a hen goes broody, and try to have her do the incubating and chick raising.

My older hens have become broody natural with no rooster in sight

A rooster can fertilize the eggs, but does not affect whether the hens go broody.

If one of your other hens goes broody, you can put Orpington eggs under her, so she can hatch them and raise the chicks.

A broody hen does not care whether she hatches her own eggs or eggs from some other hen.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

So you mean to tell me that chickens won't be broody or lay fertilized eggs unless I supp light? For years and years you mean to tell me that this never happened naturally? My older hens have become broody natural with no rooster in sight and I don't understand the rhyme or reason honestly.

We are getting plenty of eggs for eating for other hens...

They won’t go broody in the winter anyways, never mind supplied light or not.
Egg laying may improve.

 

[bobbi-j]

If you’re not supplementing light, you’re going to have to wait for longer days for them to start laying again. There is no guarantee that they will go broody even when they do start laying. If you want to hatch chicks on your schedule, you’d better plan on buying an incubator and do it yourself.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

We bought 3 jubilee orpington hens and 1 rooster last March/April. At that time they were around 6 months old. They are in a nice covered 12x16 coop with attached run by themselves and I have other laying hens about 30 feet across from them. We bought them to have chicks and they have yet to get broody, they hardly lay any eggs, they don't use the nesting boxes and never have, and they don't roost (because the place we got them from had a weird set up). None of our chickens free range because of our dog. They are fed 16% protein pellets. I don't know what else I can say, but I have no idea why they aren't laying much, why they haven't gotten broody and had chicks. Any guesses/advice that could help me understand??

Orps aren‘t amazing layers to start. And slow to mature. Egg laying may pick up in the spring.
They’ll go broody when they feel like it, and not a moment sooner.
Or they may never brood.
Though it’s likely they will.

 

[Mrs. K]

I always love a BO chicken in my flock, and mine over the years have always gone broody.
However, mine in western SD, tend to go broody in late May or June, twice or three times in July and once in October. Mostly in May, June or July.

I always thought it was when the days get longer. As you cook, keep track how many of the eggs are fertilized. If you have a high rate of fertilization, you can set with confidence.

If I think that maybe, a hen might be thinking about it, leave either fake or real eggs piled up a bit in a nest. For some birds, several eggs in a pile can be enough to flip the broody switch.

If you get one, that does not roost at night, and stays on the nest all day...WAIT...WAIT a few days. You do not know how many times, I get so excited, get a clutch together, only for her to change her mind... get off the nest for a couple of days... and THEN get serious... and you set all your good eggs in the first attempt...so wait.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

Aart - some breeds are much more apt to go broody, and BO's are ones that do. Some breeds almost never go broody.

However, some individual birds never do, and some that are not suppose to do go broody. My first broody hen was a breed that was not suppose to do so.

Mrs K

 

[Chickie friend]

So you mean to tell me that chickens won't be broody or lay fertilized eggs unless I supp light? For years and years you mean to tell me that this never happened naturally? My older hens have become broody natural with no rooster in sight and I don't understand the rhyme or reason honestly.

We are getting plenty of eggs for eating for other hens...

No, just that they will naturally stop laying when the days get shorter and if you want to supplement light they will start to lay earlier

 

[aart]

Aart - some breeds are much more apt to go broody, and BO's are ones that do.

Yes, I know, and I'm sure that what the OP was betting on....
....aren't you the one that says "we plan, the chickens laugh"?

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have 14 adult hens - 3 Buff Orpingtons, 10 Rhode Island Reds, and 1 Ameraucana. I do not provide supplemental light. I'm only getting about 2 eggs per day right now....from 14 chickens. Some days, I only get 1 egg. It's just a fact of winter.... My Ameraucana hasn't laid an egg since early November!

Over the past 3 years, I've had 6 Buff Orpingtons. In all that time, I only had TWO of the six who ever turned broody.

If you are looking for a consistently broody hen, you might want to try a different breed like a Sussex, Cochin, or Silkie