Broody silkie in Michigan winter

[bigz1983]

Hey everyone I got a silkie that just went broody and it's winter here in Michigan.

I bought 3 silkie hens back in the fall and put them in a small homemade coop I built. I have a bigger coop 8'x8' that my main flock live in(with one rooster)and my plan was when the silkie hens in the little coop when broody in the spring to put the fertile eggs from the big coop under the silkies.

Well it got warm for a few days and I think she thought it was spring and she went broody. I put 4 fertile big Brown eggs from my hens in the bigger coop under the broody hen. The rooster is a barred rock and I have 3 different breeds of hens ISA browns, barred rocks and a speckled sussex.

I have never had a broody hen and I'm a newbie to all this.
I live in Michigan and it's really cold. It's gets down to -negative temps. Could she hatch the eggs in those temps in a small coop with heat bulb on her? The chicks would hatch around Feb 21st could they survive?

I attached a picture of my broody silkie and my homemade coop. I put plywood around it to help block wind and snow. I also wrapped a tarp around the ground level play area to keep snow out.

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

They could have a chance but if you have an incubator put the eggs in that and keep them inside to be safe at least that's what I would do

 

[AlleysChicks]

Oh move that heat lamp. It’s not good to have it so close to her. You could have the general area warm but I wouldn’t have the lamp directly on her like that.

 

[bigz1983]

Oh move that heat lamp. It’s not good to have it so close to her. You could have the general area warm but I wouldn’t have the lamp directly on her like that.

Should I raise the heat lamp up higher? It's not a 250 watt it's just a 45 watt

 

[AlleysChicks]

Should I raise the heat lamp up higher? It's not a 250 watt it's just a 45 watt

could you put it somewhere close by so she can feel it but not directly on her?

 

[bigz1983]

could you put it somewhere close by so she can feel it but not directly on her?

I raised it up higher so it's not as close to her

 

[bigz1983]

Ok I have another silkie hen that just went broody so 2 out my 3 silkie hens are broody. The silkie that isn't broody is not actively laying eggs. Does she need to be laying eggs before will go broody?

 

[BoyTheRooster]

Ok I have another silkie hen that just went broody so 2 out my 3 silkie hens are broody. The silkie that isn't broody is not actively laying eggs. Does she need to be laying eggs before will go broody?

So the thing about silkies is that they go broody a lot. It just happens, she may or may not lay eggs to try and brood, but usually they won't lay, they'll just sit there trying to hatch something.
Silkies aren't super egg layers either, so she might just be taking a winter break
If you want eggs from her you can try break her of her broody-ness, but it'll happen again, pretty often, for the rest of her life. Especially once she gets past regular egg laying age, about 3 years

 

[bigz1983]

It's ok if she doesn't lay eggs I bought the Silkies to incubate the eggs. I was just wondering if she has to be actively laying eggs to go broody.

 

[BoyTheRooster]

It's ok if she doesn't lay eggs I bought the Silkies to incubate the eggs. I was just wondering if she has to be actively laying eggs to go broody.

We'll they're certainly eggcellent incubators
But no, they don't need to actively laying to go broody, it's a hormonal thing, rather than an egg thing