brooding?

[newmamahen]

Our little Silkie (Sadie) has been laying for about 3 weeks now on a pretty regular basis. Yesterday (Thanksgiving) she laid an egg, but wouldnt' come out of the nesting box. We left for the night and when we got home today, she was "still" in the box. She had laid two eggs and was just sitting on them. We took the two eggs and checked on her a few hours later, and she is still just sitting there. We took her out and checked her over and she seems fine "physically", but made some noise and then laid back down. The temp here is around 40ish but the other girls seem fine. Could she be cold? Or is it something else? Can anyone help us with what might be going on?

 

[rosco]

Your hen is doing what we'd like ours to do, Brood. The hens that want more than just eggs, chicks, will sit on the eggs for ~21days. only getting off them to quickly eat and restroom.

-rosco

 

[Ridgerunner]

If she will not come off the nest day or night except for a brief period to quickly eat a bit, drink, and go poo, she is broody. Silkies do that a lot. When they go broody, they stop laying eggs and just sit on the nest, occasionally turning the eggs under them but mostly just keeping the eggs warm. Often they will defend thir nest, fluff up to look bigger, make threatening noises, and even peck at you if you get close. The biggest clue that they are broody is that they are on the nest day and night. If you have abroody silkie, she is not laying eggs. Other hens are laying in the nest with her, either when she is off the nest for her constitutional or even piling in with her. A hen does not have to have any eggs in the nest to go broody or stay broody.

I don't know your plans for a broody. In my opinion, you have two humane choices since being broody is hard on a hen and you don't know how long she will stay broody if you just leave her. You can either break her from being broody or you can give her some fertile eggs to hatch. To break her from being broody, it is best to put her in a raised cage with food and water but nothing she can use for a nest. It really helps to have her on wire so her bottom gets cool and if it is fairly bright or at least, not dark. After two or three days in here, she should be back to normal. If you want her to raise some chicks, I'd suggest you follow this link.

Isolate a Broody? Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213218

Good luck

 

[Mollyb]

I am currently dealing with a stubborn, broody Golden Lace Wyandotte. Can anyone tell me if I should keep her in "chicken jail" for 3 days, day and night? I have been kicking her out of the nest in the mornings, putting her in jail when I catch her coming back to the nest until after dark, then putting her up on the roost at night. Each morning when I come to let them out, she is back in the nesting box.

Also, I am concerned about "chicken jail" because she does not have any feathers on her chest. The thought of her bare skin having to sit on the wire in the cage sounds like torture to me.

Thanks for any input....

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would keep her in "Protective Custody" day and night for at least three days. If you let her out and she immediately goes to the nest, she needs another day and night in there. She will be fine sitting on the wire as long as it is not frozen so cold that her skin will stick to the metal wire. The breast cooling off helps break her from being broody.