My silkie is laying...now what?

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Farm Frenzy

Farm Frenzy

Songster
12 Years
Dec 16, 2008
533
8
206
Oak Hill, Florida
I posted this question in the egglaying forum, but nobody answered, so I'm trying it here. My silkie has just started to lay and I want her to have babies, and she is in with a male, so should I leave the egg in there and just let her fill the nest up, or should I take them everyday and put them all into the incubator? I just don't know if she'll sit on them and incubate them, and I don't want to take the chance of them ruining. I don't know...it's my first silkie that has finally started laying, and I know they are great broodies, but it's her first time, and I'm NERVOUS!!!
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You can try, just keep in mind that my only Silkie hen is almost two years old and has never gone broody long enough. She'll set for a few days at a time, giving up by the end of each day for food. She's never been really 'broody' in her life. She'd much rather feed her stomach than feed the hole in her heart. Really, I don't very much blame her!
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If you dont want to take the chance of her not sitting on them then go ahead and collect them up. Just because they are good broodies doesnt mean that she is going to sit on them.Collect them for a week and put them in the bator. If you havent incubated before you may want to do some research on it while your collecting the eggs. If your not worried about waisting a few eggs then leave them in the nest and see what happens. If she dont sit then youve only lost a few eggs, if she does then good. Its really your choice. I would incubate if it was me.
 
I would collect them and keep them at a temp between 50-60- until you get at least 4-5 and then incubate them. If you notice her going broody then you can try it but she may not be ready to be a mom in that sence....
 
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Unless she is broody leaving the eggs in the nest will do nothing. She has to sit on them for three weeks to hatch them. Some hens never go broody and some go broody more than once a year. Silkies are known to go broody more than other breeds but you can't force her to do so. Some people have left eggs in the nest box to 'encourage' their hen to go broody. She may, she may not.

If you really want to hatch her eggs then you will need to incubate them. And, it's recommended that you don't take her first eggs... give her a few weeks to let the eggs get larger so there's room in the egg for a chick to grow.

How old is she and how old is the Rooster?
 
I know, that's what I'm scared of. But could I leave them in the nest for a few days just to see what she does? It's about 65-70 degrees here during the day, not too hot. I have incubated before...I actually have 6 in the bator right now, but I thought it would be a lot easier if my girls would do it for me.
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My young silkie is 7 months old and just went broody she has been sitting for 14 days now on 2 eggs. Plz wait till they are about 2-3 weeks into laying before letting them hatch. I have heard some have hatched pullet eggs but I have heard there is not much room for the chick to grow or hatch.

You could use the eggs to get her to go broody just leaving them in the nest mark them so you will know the ages of the eggs and wait and see if she will go broody. I have a 2 year old silkie who has gone broody 3 times in 4 months. Hatched eggs all 3 times.

Good luck!
 
I forgot to mention that she is not a young chicken, she was born last spring, but she just finally started laying again. Sorry for the confusion, her eggs are big and healthy looking.
 
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Oh ok that makes a big difference..LOL Yeah if you want to leave eggs in her nest you can just mark them so you know how old they are. Eggs over about 7 days there hatching rate goes down. You can keep them up to 10 days. I always just kept a FAKE eggs in the nest I would be worried about eggs getting to hot that would ruin them.
 
I'm going to try that. I found some wooden eggs at K-Mart. Should I paint them white, or do they really care if they are brown like wood. I 'm going to mark the dates tomorrow so I'll know when to add them to the bator if she doesn't start to brood. I hope she does lay on them though. I would much rather her do the work then me....
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