Broody or Not?

[Calbear637]

Hi All

I have an 8 month old silkie that has been laying consistently for the last 2 months. She is still laying about every other day, but now I’m noticing that she wants to spend extra time in the nest box keeping her egg or other eggs warm.

I’m thinking this might be the start of broodiness but she also has continued laying so I am torn about what to do. To stop the behavior I’ve been doing the suggested methods for stopping broodiness such as cold baths, closing the nest box, and even keeping her in a separate cage.

Yesterday was the most “broody” I had seen her as she was wanting to stay in the empty nest box most of the day through the afternoon without laying. When I removed her, she kept trying to go back in the coop. In the evening, I finally let all the other hens back in for the night, but the silkie actually did lay an egg very late in the evening. When I let the chickens roost for the night, the silkie will always go to the nest box unless I darken the coop, take her out of the nest box and set her on the roost.

If any experienced chicken keepers have any suggestions on what to do, it would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sourland]

Sounds like pre-broody behavior. Let her go full blown broody before trying to 'break' her. Good luck. Silkies are generally very determined to become mothers.

 

[thegreenestacre]

Yes, it definitely sounds like she's going broody. We broke our Sussexes broodiness by removing the nests. It drove them bananas for a day or so, but they settled down after that and started laying again. One idea I've read (although haven't tried) is putting a bag of frozen vegetables under the hen while she's on the nest. The temperature change is supposed to disrupt her hormones.

 

[aart]

Do you want to break her or let her hatch?
Remove all eggs daily from nests.

 

[Calbear637]

Do you want to break her or let her hatch?
Remove all eggs daily from nests.

I’ve been trying to break the silkie from the bloodiness by taking out the eggs right away, closing the coop, keeping her in a separate cage with a cold pack underneath. I don’t want to take the nest boxes away as I want to have them available for the other hens to lay.

As someone had mentioned above, I may have to let her go “full out” broody before trying to break her, as right now I think she is in the beginning stages as she is still laying about every other day, but is showing the ”broody” tendencies.

If I am able to obtain fertile eggs, I may just let her try and hatch a clutch and let nature take its course, as I don’t have a rooster.