Hi! My buff orpington hen went broody for the first time at 6 months old and she laid her last egg September 19th. Since I have no roosters and I had no intention of having more chickens , I kept her out of the nest in a little pen I made underneath the coop ( even though I put her back in the coop at night to perch and keep her safe) at that time and after a week she didn't want to go back in the nests. Well, it's October 30th and she hasn't laid an egg since then She is starting to make noises again and she visits the nests once in a while but no eggs. Is my girl going to lay again? How long does it usually take? I lost one of my girls to a dog on Monday (not my dog) and now only 2 of the ladies are laying eggs and one of them is starting to "act up" like she is going broody too I'm feeling very frustrated now, but I must say, I love my girls and I want the best for them. Any advice?
That’s really hard to say. I had one hen that started laying eggs 2-1/2 weeks after her chicks hatched. She weaned her chicks at 3 weeks so for a few days it was really a mess down there. Those chicks didn't know what to do. I had another one that started a molt in August/September while she was raising her brood. She weaned her chicks at 9 weeks but it was a couple of months more before she finished her molt and started laying again. There is no way to say for sure. With her being around 7 months old unless she went into a molt I’d expect her to start again pretty soon, but a lot of them don’t read the book and act the way they are supposed to. Pullets of that age often skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue to lay all winter, though they may reduce the number of eggs some. Some breeds are better about that than others. I’d expect a Buff Orp to do that, but each is an individual. No one can say for sure. Good luck!
This forum must have some kind of magic or something because Rooki has laid an egg today! My girl is baaaack!!
