Not broody and not laying

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ermintrude

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Hi everyone!
Three weeks ago purchased a year old Silkie in the hope that she will go hatch our fertile eggs, as I have read they go broody at the drop of a hat. She has settled in well, and with our cockerel Dave keeping an eye on everyone, there hasn't been any bullying from my other girls. So far we haven't had an egg from her and no sign of even going into the nest box let alone going broody. I know the weather has been really wet and miserable, maybe this is a factor, or am I just being really impatient!? :0) Do hens have to be laying before they go broody?
We have a large nest box that can easily fit 2 birds in and I have put a dummy egg in one side. All the other eggs are taken away. Do I need to put in more dummy eggs to make it convincing, or does it not matter seeing as she isn't going in there anyway!?
We also got 2 orpingtons a couple of months ago as my 5 year old son loves their 'big frilly knickers' and I was told they have a tendency towards broodiness too. They are laying lovely cream coloured eggs about 6 out of 7 days (though haven't kept a proper record) and also no sign of any broodiness! Is this quite a high number of eggs for orpingtons?
All advice gratefully received.
 
Good strain of Orpingtons Ermintrude. Same as ours in their first year. You were lucky to find them. Silkies don't lay much from what I've heard. How old is she, as she may be a bit too young for sitting on eggs yet anyway? Our hens don't like this very changeable weather -wet, hot, cold and they are not laying well at the moment either.
 
If you only purchased the silkie three weeks ago it may be a combination of needing to settle in to her new environment, companions and possibly the weather affecting her laying. Give her a bit of time! :D
 
The nartural way is for a hen to lay a clutch of eggs and then go broody and sit on them but they will sit on anyone elses as well if the mood takes them.
They often don't go broody when you want them to ................ a watched kettle !

The Orpington laying sounds good at the moment but to they'd need to keep that up for 8 or 9 months of the year to truly be called good layers. This is the natural laying season for birds.
 
Thanks everyone, I did think it was probably me being a bit impatient! My 2 children can't wait for fluffy chicks, and being a big kid at heart I can't wait either!
I might start making a record of the Orpington's laying to see if its worth trying to continue the strain. They just came from a backyard breeder with several cockerels free-ranging with the hens, so finding the bloodline would be almost impossible. Not sure how much influence the cockerel has on laying ability, genetically speaking, or if it is just passed down from the mother?
 
I bought 3 silkie cross light sussex banty hens in late Feb and they only started to lay little pinky coloured eggs about 4 weeks ago and only one has gone broody and is sitting on eggs at the mo - so waiting does pay off eventually! I bought one last year too who is quite a big bird and she didn't go broody until mid winter :roll: , but she just hatched 8 turkeys a couple of weeks ago!!
I have seperate little broody boxes for mine in a shed next to the main chook house I leave a good few eggs in them during the day to tempt them to start sitting, they're much darker than the main nest boxes which I think helps - although so far this year it's not only tempted the 3 hens I've got sitting but also my 3 turkey hens who keep smushing all the eggs they sit on and nothing seems to stop them either!!! I do have 1 black orpington hen who I bred 4yrs ago, pretty old for an orp!, and so far this is the first time she has ever gone broody, she still does lay the odd egg now and then - she is just one giant ball of feathers and the only reason I kept her was as a potential broody!, so I've stuck her on a dozen turkey eggs - fingers crossed she stays on them! I did have buff, gold laced and blacks at one point and only 2 including this hen have ever gone broody - maybe just my luck!, my neighbors did go more broody more often than mine - but maybe not the most reliable - although they do look pretty!! So just leave them do their thing and I'm sure one will eventually go - probably all at once!!! :lol:
 
ermintrude said:
I might start making a record of the Orpington's laying to see if its worth trying to continue the strain. They just came from a backyard breeder with several cockerels free-ranging with the hens, so finding the bloodline would be almost impossible. Not sure how much influence the cockerel has on laying ability, genetically speaking, or if it is just passed down from the mother?
Click to expand...

That would be an interesting experiment. Ideally you need the laying genes from both parents but some female lines are particularly strong. The male needs to be bred from a high yielding hen but it doesn't work every time and a bad male can set you back years especially as in most breeding pens, all the chicks will be his. If all the males in a free range flock are well bred, it's reasonable to assume they will all have some merit. If they do turn out to be good layers, I'd go back to where you get them for a male.
 
Just as an aside, one of my Orpingtons is now spending about 2 hours + in the next box laying. Is this because she is having trouble laying, or maybe the onset of broodiness?
 
It could be the onset of broody Ermintrude. We have some that make the noises for a few days beforehand and some just silently go in and lay an egg -building up a clutch to hatch later. If you lift the lid while she is in there and stroke her she may ruffle up her feathers and snuggle down. Normally if you disturb them in the box they would dash out to an alarm call.
 
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