Advice on letting broody hen hatch eggs

[User395221]

She sat so faithfully (she's young so I thought she might give up or only do it half-heartedly)

My silkies were only born in November (or around then). The 2 of them sit in the nest box together all the time. I can see why they'd be good egg-hatching chooks.

 

[Homefarmbmc]

Homefarmbmc, I don't think there's any way to predict who will do what (among the chickens anyway, I know nothing about guinea hens). You just need to be prepared with a "contingency plan" if you need to move somebody. In my case, the chicks stayed under one of their mums if they were scared. The mums were very bossy towards anyone who tried to peck the chicks or stop them doing something. They did it in such a "don't touch my babies!" way that even the chooks bigger than them listened. I think you do need to make sure you've got plenty of room for everyone and if it's confined, allocate some space for the newcomers.

Thanks so much... I do have lots of room and a separate section I can move them to and lock it... the only thing is they don't get access to the run or free range in there.

 

[FLChickens]

My silkies were only born in November (or around then). The 2 of them sit in the nest box together all the time. I can see why they'd be good egg-hatching chooks.

Awwwwww, that sounds cute. Mine usually started trying between 9 and 11 months old, and often needed to go through it a time or two to become really good.

If I remember right, my black should be around 11 months old now. She's barely laid very many eggs.

But a few generations of silkies raised the majority of my chicks on the farm. I had one barred rock and one buff orp that would go broody (probably because they were raised by silkies) and a few crossbreed silkies that raised some, but the majority were raised by a few that I got as chicks the first year who grew up and brooded everyone else's eggs for me. I've had other bantams be good mothers as well, but I just love silkies all around.