Broody silkie in the winter question

[MamaRoo]

Two days ago I went out in the evening to check the chickens and the silkie has plopped herself in a box and won't move. I managed to dig three eggs out from under her, and thought that was all she had. Well, she's still sitting there. I've decided to wait until the weekend to deal with this, and if there are a couple eggs she's been sitting on, I'll just leave them....but it's winter...and chilly...and I don't know how much bedding is in the box underneath her...D'ya think she's keeping them warm enough?

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

My Cochin went broody -- unexpectedly, as it had not been that long since her last broody.... So.. she went broody on Saturday, the 17th.
I guess I have a hatch date around the 7th of January.
To more address your issue... I think my Cochin went broody this soon again, because I had to end her last broody, due to the eggs being contaminated by worming meds... so, I was throwing away all the eggs. To end her broody, I took away the nest -- this was not difficult as I have three buckets in the coop, in the rather open nest boxes, due to the hens liking the privacy. (Five gallon buckets with a square cut in the side to open them up make a nice private nest.)
But, I was not successful ending her broody immediately -- she had sat on eggs, I took them away and threw them away, she still sat on an empty nest. Other hens came in and kicked her out, laid an egg of their own, and she sat on that... I kept taking eggs away and she sat on the nest with or without eggs until I took away the bucket nest ... all three of them. Then, a couple of days of sulking and trying... and she gave up and lost her broody.
Now, I am in Southern California, and though it is frosting at night, it's not like other places with really cold weather and snow. I am going to let her sit on eggs now and hatch them. I have not decided what to do after they hatch, they may need to be indoors, warmer than the coop.... not sure whether to put a heat lamp in or what yet.
I suppose if you can get rid of the nest completely, that would do it. Others have said, I have read that you can separate her, put her in a cage, where she does not have access to a nest, and it might take some time to break her broody.
I think that if you search "breaking broodiness" or "breaking a hen's broody" you will find more ideas on how to do that.
It just breaks my heart to do that, so, I will let mine sit now and figure out how to keep her and the babies more warm later, by the time they hatch.
Best of luck.... If she is like my Cochin and you break her broody this time, she will go broody again, sooner, probably before it gets warm.

 

[steponme1104]

My Silkie hen also just went broody...this is her 3rd time in the past year and each time she has hatched eggs so I dont know if breaking her will cause her to go broody again more quickly. We have eggs under my broody. We put a nice thick bedding under her about 1 1/2- 2 inches of shavings and the eggs seem to be staying pretty warm. I'm in AZ and the lows have been in the 30's. I hope this helps.

 

[Jferlisi]

Quote:
She will be able to keep them warm if the bedding is deep enough. If they eggs are touching the bottom of the box i would say add more shavings. Oh she is broodie btw. Silkies are famous for it.

 

[Jferlisi]

Quote:
How long ago did you break her? Cochin's and silkie's are known for there broodieness so they go alot. If its only been a few months i would say its cause of her internal timing that she is sitting again.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

I've got a Silkie hen sitting on 8 eggs right now and she's keeping them nice and toasty

All are developing and are at about Day 18 now.

 

[MamaRoo]

Thanks for all the info.

I've decide that I'll put some straw under the box, and more bedding in it on Saturday (if there are actually eggs there) and just see what happens. If'n we have babies - I'll be here asking new questions.

 

[greymane]

Our one Silkie (Mama Bear) went broody almost a month ago and has so far hatched seven little fluff balls! (One did not make it past the first day, but the rest are healthy and happy in the brooder.)

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Guess I was wrong on the eggs... we now have one little fluffy butt that has hatched so far and several others pipping

 

[greymane]

Woohoo! Congrats!