Broody hen. What can I do?

[Ilovesilkiechickens1]

In the image are two of my four Silkie hens. From what I have seen, my chickens are not that broody. Today these two were, the brown one abandoned her eggs a couple of hours ago and the white one took the eggs “under her wing”. Carlisle, the white one, is still broody. She has been all day. She has her own dish of food and water by her side and I’m making sure she is drinking and eating. I cannot help feeling bad for her as this process seems miserable. I’m not going to allow her to hatch these eggs, as winter is almost here and that can be rough on chicks. My question is: should I take the eggs away from her now? Should I wait? What can I do to help my little girl out? Thank you.

 

[chickenlittle21]

You could buy chicks from a local feed store and give them to her

 

[Ilovesilkiechickens1]

You could buy chicks from a local feed store and give them to her

But as I mentioned in the post, the cold winter weather would be rough on young chickens. Thank you for the reply.

 

[chickenlittle21]

But as I mentioned in the post, the cold winter weather would be rough on young chickens. Thank you for the reply.

The other option would be to put her in an uncomfortable cage until she isn't broody anymore. It's called breaking a broody.

 

[ackie]

I assume it would be best to break her of broodiness sooner rather than later. Raising winter chicks doesnt bother me, but I guess it depends where you are located. (I'm assuming you have a rooster, otherwise the eggs arent viable anyway)

Try to gather the eggs more regularly, though I have a hen who will go broody on 1 egg if she is feeling broody, so I know that's not full proof.

 

[Ilovesilkiechickens1]

I assume it would be best to break her of broodiness sooner rather than later. Raising winter chicks doesnt bother me, but I guess it depends where you are located. (I'm assuming you have a rooster, otherwise the eggs arent viable anyway)

Try to gather the eggs more regularly, though I have a hen who will go broody on 1 egg if she is feeling broody, so I know that's not full proof.

Thank you very much! So would simply removing her eggs be the best bet? Or is there a better way? Because I’d hate for her to be upset about them being gone. That may sound a bit crazy, but I just want her to be happy.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Where are you located?
Hens can raise chicks in winter down to single digits.

 

[ackie]

Thank you very much! So would simply removing her eggs be the best bet? Or is there a better way? Because I’d hate for her to be upset about them being gone. That may sound a bit crazy, but I just want her to be happy.

She's going to be upset (IMO), but theres no sense of putting her body through the tough broody process if you're going to trash the eggs anyway - plus, the longer you wait, you will be killing fetuses that look like baby chicks rather than small clusters of cells.

 

[Ilovesilkiechickens1]

Where are you located?
Hens can raise chicks in winter down to single digits.

Thank you for the reply. While I do know that they would be fine in cold, it’s just not ideal. I have a plan to hatch some this spring when I have lots of free time to keep watch for them.

 

[589205]

I think it really just depends on what you & the hen want to accomplish. You can go with either way...let her do her broody thing & maybe seperate her so she can raise her chicks or you can take the eggs and start collecting her eggs more often to break her out of broodiness