We got Buff Orpingtons from a hatchery several years ago, knowing nothing of the subject at hand. I think we got 6 of them and 8 or 12 Easter Eggers. We raised them together in a brooder (okay, our well house) to about 8 weeks old, then spent about another month integrating them with our established flock. The reason we waited so long was to make sure they looked like chickens and not baby birds, to protect them from our cats, before putting them outdoors with the older hens. So they were close to three months old before being around adult hens. Stay with me, I do have a point. Of these 6 Orps, at least 4 went broody shortly after going into lay, and all 4 successfully raised chicks. The following year, 4 of the remaining 5 did it again. The third year my remaining three tried to do it, so I culled them. I realize Orps aren't considered hatchery birds so maybe they don't belong in this discussion. If not I'll pay tax again.
: put it on your Christmas list perhaps? - "copulation and provision of sperm both have potential dangers and costs" e.g. exposure to competitors and predators, and stds (yes, lice can be considered sexually transmitted diseases in chickens since they hang round the vent), and more specifically,"roosters invest more time and transfer more sperm to females that are novel...or to females that display flashier and brighter combs [which] indicates greater egg-laying ability and better skills at incubating eggs and raising chicks successfully"aka the costly sperm hypothesis.
