Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

Would if you know for a fact they are not fertile because you have no roosters? Are you suppose to Let them keep some of their eggs anyway and let them pretend or should you keep taking them? Also how long are eggs good for out in the coop if they are not collected right away? I mean the kinds you plan to collect and eat.

If a Silkie is broody she will not be laying eggs. At least mine don't.

Silkie broodies try to go sit on newly layed eggs by other hens so we collect them asap before the broody heats up the egg. Sometimes a Silkie goes broody just at the sight of a couple freshly layed eggs in another nest! We collect eggs as soon as we hear the egg songs because the LF Ameraucana is a klutzy girl and doesn't mean to but she steps on and can break the eggs. I understand Jersey Giants often break eggs because they are so big and heavy.

No rooster - no fertile eggs.

We keep our collected eggs 2 or 3 days on the kitchen counter and then fill up the egg carton all at once. I heard up to 2 weeks eggs can be kept out as long as there are no temperature extremes like very hot or very cold in the room. My uncle ran a chicken ranch and kept eggs up to 3 months in his large refrigerator cooler before going to market. Eggs in supermarkets are probably older than that - at least they taste old!

 

[Fancychooklady]

If a Silkie is broody she will not be laying eggs. At least mine don't.

Silkie broodies try to go sit on newly layed eggs by other hens so we collect them asap before the broody heats up the egg. Sometimes a Silkie goes broody just at the sight of a couple freshly layed eggs in another nest! We collect eggs as soon as we hear the egg songs because the LF Ameraucana is a klutzy girl and doesn't mean to but she steps on and can break the eggs. I understand Jersey Giants often break eggs because they are so big and heavy.

No rooster - no fertile eggs.

We keep our collected eggs 2 or 3 days on the kitchen counter and then fill up the egg carton all at once. I heard up to 2 weeks eggs can be kept out as long as there are no temperature extremes like very hot or very cold in the room. My uncle ran a chicken ranch and kept eggs up to 3 months in his large refrigerator cooler before going to market. Eggs in supermarkets are probably older than that - at least they taste old!

Eggs are at least a month old at their ' best before date ' in our supermarkets. They will certainly keep longer than 2 weeks at room temp. Hatching eggs are still viable 10-14 days after they have been laid, when kept at at room temp.

 

[Sylvester017]

Eggs are at least a month old at their ' best before date ' in our supermarkets. They will certainly keep longer than 2 weeks at room temp. Hatching eggs are still viable 10-14 days after they have been laid, when kept at at room temp.

Because eggs are so easy to keep I don't worry about arranging them from oldest to newest anymore and don't rush to put them in cartons for the fridge. Once they've been refrigerated I don't keep them out except to use promptly in cooking.

We collected eggs from our rescue Marans who came to us from a breeding pen. We collected eggs for 2 weeks and gave them to a friend to put under her broody. There were only 6 eggs layed in the 2 weeks we collected and 5 of them hatched. We were all thrilled as it was a first time for all of us at hatching anything.

 

[subhanalah]

Because eggs are so easy to keep I don't worry about arranging them from oldest to newest anymore and don't rush to put them in cartons for the fridge. Once they've been refrigerated I don't keep them out except to use promptly in cooking.

We collected eggs from our rescue Marans who came to us from a breeding pen. We collected eggs for 2 weeks and gave them to a friend to put under her broody. There were only 6 eggs layed in the 2 weeks we collected and 5 of them hatched. We were all thrilled as it was a first time for all of us at hatching anything.

Many chefs will tell you its best to let eggs come to room temperature before using them, especially for merengues! Something about how the molecules behave. I'm still buying the eggs we eat, so all of mine are refrigerated until use. God willing,I'll soon have some fresh eggs of my own!

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

My Partridge girl was my first Silkie (with a brother who went back to the breeder). The Partridge started laying at 6 months and layed 5-6 eggs per week for almost a year without a moult or broody session. When the Partridge was 18 months old we added a Black Silkie pullet who at 8 months started going broody every 3-4 months. We stopped trying to break the broodies and let them set it out on their imaginary eggs. In about 3-4 weeks they tire of the session and go back to normal. Sometimes when the Partridge went broody, the Black decided to share custody to brood the same nest. It's contagious with Silkies.

We just make sure they get additional vitamins, take them out of the nestbox to go dust-bathe, eat, and drink and then they promptly return to nesting. We take them out of the nestboxes about 3X a day so they don't get ill or dehydrated. In about 3-4 weeks they get tired of setting and return to "normal" with the rest of the flock. I have no idea what sets Silkies off into broody mode as there never seems to be rhyme or reason. Some say spring or warm weather gets them started but my Partridge went broody during frost so dunno!

Wow that sounds scary. Man, I hope mine arent so dedicated that they dehydrate themselves and I have to force them out several times a day and have to worry about them. I get over loaded with mommy duties as it is with young kiddos lol I got chickies to help relieve stress from everyday life, as animals always do for me, and ive always loved silkies. I hope they wont be a stress :s

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Only if you think someone is sitting on them. They'll be fine for a couple of days even a week as long as it's not in the middle of summer. I don't leave eggs laying around cause if it doesn't trigger a brooder it is inviting egg eating, and once that starts it can be contagious.

Egg eating? By who? The chickens? They break and eat their own eggs?

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Eggs are at least a month old at their ' best before date ' in our supermarkets. They will certainly keep longer than 2 weeks at room temp. Hatching eggs are still viable 10-14 days after they have been laid, when kept at at room temp.

I'm learning so much, thanks! lol I never realized how little I knew about keeping hens and about their eggs. All I ever had was a rooster. This will be a fun new experience for me when my chicks grow up

 

[subhanalah]

Egg eating? By who? The chickens? They break and eat their own eggs? 

it can happen, and once it's a habit, its near impossible to break, the hen normally is culled before she can teach other chickens how to break the eggs.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Egg eating? By who? The chickens? They break and eat their own eggs? 

I keep golf balls on hand for that reason. I had one hen eating hers and anyone else's eggs that she could find. Threw a golf ball in , made sure there were no eggs lying around and it take long for her to get a sore beak. She's 4 now and well and truly cured of her addiction.

 

[rayray983]

I'm getting duck eggs but it will be a few more months before I get silkie or my larger fowl eggs can't wait I have 14 2 and half month old hens come on fresh eggs and hope to have enough hens so if a couple go broody they don't effect my daily egg count much