My silkie hen stays in the coop nest box over two days

tasman

Hatching
6 Years
Feb 4, 2013
3
0
7
It is unusual, My silkie hen stays in the coop nest box over two days, very quiet, hardly comes out to eat or drink. No other symptoms except she looks no energy to move.

I didn't vaccinate my hens. What possible illness? I am in San Jose, CA, How and where to get her treated? Your advice is highly appreciated.
 
How long have you had silkies? How old is she and is she laying? Does she make growling sounds or squeal when you try to move her? She could just be broody. Silkies go broody often and don't like to give up once they get it in their head to be broody.
 
I have my silies since they were 2-week old, They are 8 month old now, and started laying eggs 2-3 weeks ago. My hen will go away from the nest if I want to move her but she will be back soon and stay in the nest very long.
 
Unless she looks sick, has runny nose, not eating etc, I would say she's broody. She is about the right age to start doing that. Silkie hens will lay eggs real good for a while, lay about 6-10 eggs over the days. Then want to go broody. (They want to hatch out chicks). If you don't have fertile eggs or just don't want her to hatch any chicks, you need to try and break her from being broody. Always collect your eggs as soon as you can. A broody hen is very determined to hatch and it's sometimes hard to break. A broody can make themselves sick by not eating or drinking enough. They can lose quite a bit of weight. The best way I have found to break a broody is to move her to another pen. The more you move them and disturb them the better. Block her from the nest box.
 
Thank you very much for your excellent advice, now my wife returns to happy life, she was very sad when she saw my hen like that. Thanks again.
 
Your welcome. All I raise are silkies, so if you need any help again send me a message. I don't get on here very often. Good luck.
 
I am having the same problem with my silkie hen. She was laying one egg a day for the last 6 weeks or so, started to become just a little broody a few days ago but I still got the egg out from under her. The last 3 days she will not leave her box but has not laid any eggs.She is around 10 months old. Is this broodiness or egg binding? It is getting cooler outside so I thought that may have slowed her production. It just seems unusual that she would be broody and stop laying eggs at the same time.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Hi. Silkies will lay really good for a while then some will go broody or just stop for awhile. They lay in cycles like that. They will not lay while broody and then not for a few weeks more after they stop being broody. Some will lay one or two when they first start sitting to brood. If you think she has egg binding, feel her abdomen for an egg near the vent. But I would guess she's just broody. If you don't want her to be broody start moving her as often as you can. The more you disturb her the better. I put mine in a different pen. That usually works for mine. Good luck.
 

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