my oldest buff orp hen has gone broody....

[bkreugar]

My oldest buff orp hen is now 2 and she has never sat before, but I get about 8 eggs a day so if I don't collect every day...

Anyway DS8 has begged for us to hatch our own chicks(even though we have been getting chicks of breeds we want weekly in the brooder).

So I DID have a silky sit and hatch successfully, but I didnt even KNOW Buff Orp were a broody breed. I have 2 bantam roosters that have mixed luck with the big ladies, but I have seen some success.

So she is sitting on about 12 eggs. She is IN the favored nest box, so what will my others do? ARE buffs good mothers? She is NOT as broody as my silky and frizzles were, they would actually peck and attack if u tried to take the eggs, buffy just growls, but I COULD collect them if I was adamant, she doesnt peck at me.

TIA

 

[scratch'n'peck]

my orps go broody some times but I haven't let them hatch anything. They are not very hard to break from broodiness. I guess it is wait and see now.

 

[abubakar4u2003]

Every hen has a different behaviour. Some breeds are ok with you touching the eggs, while some are too aggressive. I remember my first experience with a broody hen in 2002. It was white cornish and man, she was too aggressive. I didn't had a separte cage at that time to keep her separate from other hens. So, I just put some hay in a brown carton ( the ones you can see in Walmart used for packaging) and kept her in the garage. so, whenever I tried to take her out of that box so that she can feed, she use to peck at me fiercely. couple of times it injured my hand too (so hard was the force behind it) and I had to wear gloves to take her out of it. Then when the chickens came out I had to keep all of them with other hens in single cage and she didn't let anyone (even rooster) touch those chicks. It was awesome!!

 

[uncle rico]

yes, BOs tend to be very broody. So far i have had two broodies among my BOs. They are fairly easy to break although mine require at least 3 days in the cage before they'll stop.

I have never let my BO hens hatch anything so i dont have anything to say about the mothering thing. Ive read their very good mothers though.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

my hatchery BOs were very broody after age 2. I've not been able to break one yet, and they've all (5 different girls) been terrific mothers. If it were up to me I'd mark a few eggs and let her hatch them. If she's in the favorite nest you'll have to check each night (its safer at night lol) to make sure other girls aren't hopping in and making deposits during the day. Some of my girls are fiercer than others, but they've all sat the whole way through and did wonderful work raising the chicks. Good luck