2 broody silkies

[Matilda Belle]

i have one broody Silkie (broody #1) inside sitting on 7 eggs all fertile and ready to hatch in about a week. I brought her inside and set her up in a swimming pool.

I have another silkie (broody #2) outside sitting on some eggs that should hatch in 2 1/2 weeks. It is going to be very cold out the next few weeks (-20 F with the windchill).

My question is: if I bring broody #2 inside and put her in the same pen with broody #1, would that be a recipe for disaster?

Has anyone ever tried this?

 

[Matilda Belle]

Here is her set up.

 

[fire370]

Can’t answer that for you. Chickens are funny and especially broody ones. Sometimes you can move them and they don’t care. Sometimes you move them and they will leave the eggs to go back to original. Other times you can move them and it will break them of being broody. Kind of a toss up. I’ve got some ill-tempered when broody Silkie-Cemanis that I bred that don’t care what you do with them as long as they have eggs. They do not like being messed with when broody that’s why I say ill-tempered. Around here though, most of the time if I have a broody they’ll sneak off and show back up a month later with chicks.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I'm not really worried she won't take the eggs. I'm more worried about rivalry/bickering between the hens and stress chicks could cause on #2.

 

[fire370]

I know if it were my Silkie/Cemani’s, they be trying to steal each others eggs and killing chicks because they are heifers when setting. Those hens are the craziest out of the couple hundred running around here. Ha. All you can do is try it. My Cemani’s are bats!!t crazy so that’s where they get it. The silkie moms are docile.

 

[Matilda Belle]

That's what I'd be worried about (stealing eggs). My first broody is doing so good and is so close to hatching. Not sure I want to risk anything. Maybe I'll just set broody 2 in a different pen inside for now. Can eggs even hatch in subzero temperatures like this? I can't imagine that the eggs aren't frozen, but of course she's had some helpers sitting on top of her. Right now there are three hens sitting on the eggs on top of each other. Lol

 

[Brahmachicken240]

It’s just one of those “you don’t know till you try” situations.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I wouldn't. Broody hens will fight over eggs and space. And then when the chicks hatch, I've had broodies try to kill the chicks of others, and I've had them try to steal the chicks of others.


When I move hens, I put them in a large, airholed cardboard box with the nest beforehand. This, I do during the day. I put in food and water with her. Within the week (but usually after a day or two) I close the top so she can't get out. I let her get used to that. Maybe a day later, I move the cardboard box to the location I prefer, and I leave it shut for a while.

I try to keep the box in a small, enclosed space, so that when I do let the hen out, she associates the box with her nest site, and can't return to her original nest site. This method works very well for me.

EDT: And, of course, you should candle the eggs if you're not sure they're viable.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I didn’t have any issues taking the broody and her eggs out of the coop and putting them inside. She went straight to the eggs. Maybe I got lucky.

I candled all 7 eggs and they’re all fertile! A few I see movement. It’s so neat! I accidentally cracked one last night. I put superglue on it. I hope it’s ok.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

Warning warning disaster potential! I would NOT move the broodies together. They will steal each others eggs which is OK but when the first chicks hatch they may fight over them and this could lead to them abandoning the eggs that are due to hatch later. Broody hens are cray cray. Best to keep them separated. If you are worried about the cold you could easily divide that pen in two with some wire or something and keep them both in there until after the chicks hatch.