*Buff Orpington Thread!*

Congrats Bella!!!

*question: tell me about the bachelor pad. We have always just had one roo per breed and allowed them to stay with the hens. They would round them up at night and guard them during the day.

How does the bachelor pad work?

You build a separate pen and coop to raise/finish the roosters. It just needs to be our of sight and away from the hens and those roosters can't come in contact with the hens while they're in that pen, even through a fence, nor can they come in contact with the hens as a group in a free range environment. Absent of hens, the roosters establish their own flock pecking order and while you may have an occasional skirmish, it's not that bad, especially if all the roosters are the same age and grew up together. It's not as common now, but some people raise large numbers of roosters separately from hens, for meat, for hackles, or to get a group of them to about 20 weeks so you have a lot of choices to select the best rooster/s to keep for breeding. For breeding, you can pull a rooster from the rooster pen and put him in a breeding pen with the right hens, gather those eggs for a week and return him back to the bachelor pad and return the hens back to the main flock of hens and repeat with the next breed. No waiting 3 weeks, no bare saddles, no rooster drama. Doing it this way allows people to keep and breed more pure breeds with a smaller number of pure birds and without having crazy chicken math or massive numbers of pens and coops to house each breed separately. If you're planning on eating the roosters, it obviously also helps that they're separated so you can modify their diet accordingly without changing the feed for your laying flock.
 
I have 2 buff orpingtons in my small flock. They are 33 weeks. One started laying at 22 weeks and the other has yet to lay me an egg.
hu.gif
I know all hens are different....but 33 weeks (actually almost 34)!!! I want my egg! Can someone tell me what is the longest I should wait before I assume she may not lay?
I got the first of my 8 girls from someone locally. All the other 7 are laying and have been for quiet a while. One has already gone broody and hatched chicks (she started laying at 18 weeks). Nearly 34 weeks seems very long to wait for that egg!! Any insight?
 
I have 2 buff orpingtons in my small flock. They are 33 weeks. One started laying at 22 weeks and the other has yet to lay me an egg.
hu.gif
I know all hens are different....but 33 weeks (actually almost 34)!!! I want my egg! Can someone tell me what is the longest I should wait before I assume she may not lay?
I got the first of my 8 girls from someone locally. All the other 7 are laying and have been for quiet a while. One has already gone broody and hatched chicks (she started laying at 18 weeks). Nearly 34 weeks seems very long to wait for that egg!! Any insight?
If they are from heritage lines instead of hatchery lines, they may take much longer. My Heritage Brahmas didn't start laying until 38-41 weeks.
 
If they are from heritage lines instead of hatchery lines, they may take much longer.  My Heritage Brahmas didn't start laying until 38-41 weeks.

Honestly, I'm not sure but I'm assuming they are hatchery lines, not heritage because I see some "flaws". The bird I'm asking about has a few black streaks in her tail feathers. These were my first birds and I have since learned a lot more and have been more choosy about where I get my chicks.
Wow, 41 weeks! I guess I could be waiting for that first egg for a bit longer.
 
I have 2 buff orpingtons in my small flock. They are 33 weeks. One started laying at 22 weeks and the other has yet to lay me an egg.
hu.gif
I know all hens are different....but 33 weeks (actually almost 34)!!! I want my egg! Can someone tell me what is the longest I should wait before I assume she may not lay?
I got the first of my 8 girls from someone locally. All the other 7 are laying and have been for quiet a while. One has already gone broody and hatched chicks (she started laying at 18 weeks). Nearly 34 weeks seems very long to wait for that egg!! Any insight?

Have you watched her to see if maybe she didn't find a hidden place to lay her eggs?
 
Have you watched her to see if maybe she didn't find a hidden place to lay her eggs? 

I'm very certain there is no hidden nest. They do free range my back yard (I live on 1/2 acre) but living in the dessert there aren't many places she could be hiding them. Last week I worked outside all day and watched the 8 older girls in hopes that maybe she was laying and I was missing it. I kept my eye on her for two days straight and she never went near the nesting boxes. Nada! She is a pig and the first to eat. She is bigger than my other girls but not by much so I wouldn't think that would be keeping her from laying...I guess time will tell.
 
Bella's mother has grown a little tail ;)
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The chicks are hardly little things, always out in all weather
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Spot the chicks!
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Bella's chick is doing well. Haven't got around to putting them out yet because the weather has been horrible! (the sunny pics were last week)
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Daisy is on eggs now, shes kind of screwing things up this year. Not sure why, maybes Bella's thickness it contagious?
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Hello,
New around here. I picked up 6 BOs about 2 months ago. I'm going to openly admit that I am partial to my other 6 birds, Black Australorps, but I'm going to love them all the same. Haven't even started reading this thread and promise to come back with pictures of my birds. They are so much harder to tell apart than my BAs. Hope this isn't a repost, but I'm in the car business, and this came across my desk the other day. I enjoyed, hope you do too.

 
I have 3 18 days old buff orpingtons i bought at 4 1/2 days old. A few days ago I noticed one of them was significantly lighter than the others. Today she is having difficultly walking although she is eating and drinking. I have isolated her from the other chicks I have. Is there anything else I can do??


Catie...a new chicken mama
 

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