FINALLY my Silkie's are broody!! Need some advice!!

[Silkie88]

So finally i have 2 broody silkie hens. One hen is sitting on 2 eggs and the other is sitting on 6.

Now for my questions..
1. How long should i wait to candle them? and how do you candle them?
2. Should i let the 2 moms raise the chicks together or by them selfs?
3. How long will it take for the chicks to hatch?
Thanks evreyone and have a great evening!!

 

[Bunnylady]

I've always heard that it takes 21 days for chicken eggs to hatch, but whenever I've had hens do the work, if I recall correctly, it only took them about 19 days.

I have a little 6" Maglite (uses 2 double A's) that I use when I candle eggs. I take the little plastic lens out of it, and it fits onto the end better. I candle for the first time at about a week. I take them into a dark room so I can see well, and put the light on the large end of the egg (with the air sac).

I don't know how well your hens get along, but I've had rotten luck with chicks around other hens. Based on my experience, I would keep the hens and their respective families separate until the chicks are a bit bigger.

 

[HEChicken]

1. How long should i wait to candle them? and how do you candle them?
2. Should i let the 2 moms raise the chicks together or by them selfs?
3. How long will it take for the chicks to hatch?

1. With my broody hens I don't candle the eggs at all - I just let the hen do all the work. I figure the less I disturb her, the less chance she will abandon the nest, and getting under her to get at the eggs to candle them, can be pretty distressing to a committed broody.
2. I've only ever had one broody at a time. I've heard of hens who co-reared their chicks and others who constantly fought over which chicks belonged to which hen to the point of killing them, so you might need to play that one by ear depending on how your hens are acting when the time comes.
3. I usually figure on the chicks hatching on day 19 when they are under a broody.