am i abusing my broody chicken??

I have 2 silkies that have never had eggs put under them and I have tried every single remedy listed on this site and they are still broody. I just make sure I put the food, water and special treats near them. I guess someday i will let them raise some babies. Its the only thing I have not tried because I do not want any right now. Mine are rather healthy though so like you I am just letting them do what they want. They want to sit on a nest. Sometimes I even give them fakes to sit on. They are so dang thrilled. They rearrange them constantly. These birds just have a mothering nature. Just make sure you watch her more carefully and give her some special treats. i will lock the others out and give mine eggs so I know they got some. The others are much more used to ensuring they get their fair share.
 
like i said, i dont have her caged or nothing like that, she is just sitting in the nest with an open door, i have hatched eggs in the incubator and i dont see them as healthy as when she hatches them.
when i put her more eggs i just hope that she takes them... but in the case that she doesnt i have the incubator...
she can stop whenever she wants, i just want to know if i should discourage her, or keep on putting eggs and let her stop whenever she wants...
 
She should be allowed to raise a clutch of chicks --- that mothering hormone is intense -- she isn't choosing to do this. Taking away the babies keeps that hormone active. If she is currently sitting (I lost track) let her keep the babies. (She can't stop whenever she wants -- her hormones are being induced by having the chicks removed.)

Jenny
 
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I agree with this.
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I would let her raise the next batch of babies.
 
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I have only had 2 broody hatches, one last summer and one about 8 weeks ago. It was the same hen both times, and I always let her raise her chicks, she's an excellent mama and her chicks are much smarter than the ones I raise.

You can let your's go broody and hatch more eggs, after she's raised her clutch of chicks. While she's raising them, she's eating and drinking and doing all the chicken things she should do, and restoring her health. When they are sitting on eggs, they don't eat or drink much, just enough to sustain themselves. Mine never lost weight or looked bad, but her comb would get really pale.

Which leads to this comment. I have a speckled sussex who is sitting now, we are down to one egg, started out with 6, but that's a long story. If this egg is good, it should hatch in the next couple of days. My broody, though she hasn't lost weight, she looks terrible. Her comb is so pale, I've been really worried about her.

If I were to take this chick away from her, if it hatches, and put another clutch of eggs under her, I'm sure she'd sit for the next 21 days, but I doubt she would survive.

As somebody else responded.... in the wild, or in the natural course of things, a hen would sit on the eggs, they would hatch, she would raise them, then when the time came she would start laying again, probably anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks after her chicks hatched. She would be healthy again then at some point go broody again.

If you let her raise the chicks, you don't have to discourage her. Taking care of those chicks will be her number one priority.
 

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