Broody Hen Thread!

[AmericanMom]

Silkies do come in standard and bantam... though I believe the standard (or LF) are much more the norm in Europe, there are a few folks in the states with them...I have crossed my Silkie with a LF rooster hoping for some larger broody types, but so far they are tending to stay about the same size as mama... time will tell with the last 3, since they are about her size at 17 weeks, so they may end up slightly larger.
For larger broodies though, I have had great luck with my Silver Pencil Rocks and even had a hatchery Black Giant... so if they continue that trend I won't need to worry about having banties for broodies.
The little ones sure do seem lost the first few days... hard to not coddle them when it happens, but they will find their place in a short time. Our current Black Giant broody is now taking her 6 week olds up onto the roosting platforms (3 nights now)... they all get to cuddle around her, but are in the midst of all of the bigger birds also. During the day she is still taking care of them and today had them in the woods digging through leaves. I think she will be ready to leave them within a week or two though.

Yes, I could tell at around 5 weeks she was going to leave them, she would go off and scratch for a time by herself and then a week before she rejected them the roo started mating with her again.. It didn't surprise me when one night we heard a commotion (the henhouse is at the back of our property about 3/4 of an acre away) we went out and she was pecking the heck outta a few of them trying to get away from them...

 

[chicken farmer]

I never seen or heard of LF silkies but I'm there are somewhere

 

[DarynA146]

hey,one of my silkies has layed 7 eggs. I want to know how many she will lay and when she will start sitting to hatch them. She layed her first egg last week tuesday . Help please?

 

[AmericanMom]

Today marks day 18 with my broody.... I doubt these will hatch early as she has been a normal broody and taking a moment here and there for herself which is fine with me as she has a few eggs that are a few days behind... It doesn't stop me from wanting absolute quiet when I go out because I keep wanting to hear those little cheeps ......


I thought the waiting wouldn't be as bad with a broody but nope, its just as bad as an incubator!!!

 

[DarynA146]

MY silkie has layed 7 eggs when will she start sitting and how many eggs will she lay?

 

[fisherlady]

hey,one of my silkies has layed 7 eggs. I want to know how many she will lay and when she will start sitting to hatch them. She layed her first egg last week tuesday . Help please?

MY silkie has layed 7 eggs when will she start sitting and how many eggs will she lay?

There is no way to tell if or when a hen will go broody.... it is more likely that a silkie will at some time, but is still not an absolute, there are exceptions in every breed or type of chicken.
She will lay eggs every other day or so as long as the amount of daylight is correct except when she is broody or gets too old to lay anymore. There is no set number they will lay, some strains of the breed lay more often, some less often.

I don't expect young hens to become broodies right away, and I don't leave their eggs in the nest for extended periods either... if you want to encourage broodiness you can leave golf balls or something similar in the nest and it will act the same as eggs. If you want to use particular eggs for hatching then just save them in a carton somewhere cool (50-60*) and tilt the carton two or three times a day and inch or two from end to end (I just put a block of wood under one end and switch ends 2 or 3 times a day). Eggs can be kept that way for about 10 days before they start loosing viability and need replaced. If you date the eggs when you place them into the carton you can remove the oldest ones after a week or so and just cycle them through that way. Then you will have some ready for when your hen does decide to set.

Most average sized silkies can cover about 8 of their own eggs, sometimes more if it is an experienced hen... though I don't like to overload a hen with chicks, especially a first time mama... 6 or 8 chicks is a lot to keep track of for them.

 

[fisherlady]

Today marks day 18 with my broody.... I doubt these will hatch early as she has been a normal broody and taking a moment here and there for herself which is fine with me as she has a few eggs that are a few days behind... It doesn't stop me from wanting absolute quiet when I go out because I keep wanting to hear those little cheeps ......


I thought the waiting wouldn't be as bad with a broody but nope, its just as bad as an incubator!!!

I think it is worse than an incubator!!

2 reasons.... 1) you can't see anything going on!! At least in the 'bator you can see pips and progress!!
2) I hate the thoughts of a hen getting nothing for her effort if the eggs fail to hatch for some reason... so that always worries me too!

 

[AmericanMom]

I think it is worse than an incubator!!

2 reasons.... 1) you can't see anything going on!! At least in the 'bator you can see pips and progress!!
2) I hate the thoughts of a hen getting nothing for her effort if the eggs fail to hatch for some reason... so that always worries me too!

LOL, This is true...Atleast with the incubator I can see if something is happening.. She growled at me when I was out there, lol...My sweet hen is in full leave me alone mode..I did get a chance the other day to test an egg or two and they are full and the air cells looked really good so I am hoping she gets something for all her effort..

 

[PortlandHen]

I think it is worse than an incubator!!

2 reasons.... 1) you can't see anything going on!! At least in the 'bator you can see pips and progress!!
2) I hate the thoughts of a hen getting nothing for her effort if the eggs fail to hatch for some reason... so that always worries me too!

Yes. I keep thinking about how hard our girl is working, and I hope there are chicks in there. I'm going to candle them on Saturday or Sunday (day 7 or 8). It's SO hard to wait.

 

[zmaryellen]

This is day 22 for the earliest eggs under our buff orp.... no peeps yet.... should we be worried, yet?