Broody Silkie - Questions

[Reyvaughn]

I thought it was a little early, but my one Silkie has gone broody. She's only 21wks old. She's been sitting for four days and stealing the other Silkies' eggs (they lay on the floor because they don't want to make the 12" hop to the nest box - not that I mind much). So, I have a couple of questions since she's my first broody... Since she's so young is there a chance she'll come out of it early? I have a shipment of hatching eggs coming in today or Saturday, I thought about putting them under her - should I let her have them? I go down every day to collect eggs and she puffs herself up, raises her hackles and kinda growls at me, but I pick her up (2-6x a day) and look for eggs anyways. So far it hasn't changed her mind about wanting to sit. If I do let her, I'll put a tote in there for her to get cozy in.

I also bought some Ameraucanas I have to pick up in MD on Saturday - one went broody at 6 months. Will the move break her brood? I may need her to sit, too...

 

[sunlitmoonlight]

Silkies are little devils when being broody. In my experience, it is difficult to break their broodiness. I would suggest you place a few of your due to arrive eggs under her and let her hatch them. I have four silkies and on numerous occasions have tried almost every trick in the book to break their broodiness, to no avail. By placing fertile eggs under them, keeps them happy and healthy.

Hope this helps

 

[chookhead]

yea i agree let her sit u will be rewarded wiht little budles of joy lol 3 days lef t till my broody hatches out her first batch of chicks and she is an isa brown

 

[NCchicken]

I have also tried almost everything under the sun to break my broody silkies but it never works. I just let them be but make sure they get up and get a bit of exercise, food, water and treats. They always seem to go broody for more than three weeks at a time. I vote to put eggs under her and i vote no, the drive won't break her brood.

 

[NewToFarming]

I bet your girl will do fine. My youngest silkie to go broody was 17 weeks old and she turned 5 months old on their hatch day. I was a bit worried too about how she would do because she was so young and she hatched 7 chicks and was a great mom! You can't break their broodiness! They are destined to be moms!! LOL

 

[branston]

My Silkie went broody after about three weeks of laying. I popped two eggs under her and she hatched two beautiful chicks on the 21st! She is such a good mama and takes incredible care of her babies!

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are living animals with individual personalities. Nobody can tell you what yours will do, but you are getting some good answers from peope with experience. From that, you can tell what will probably happen. But always be prepared for the unexpected.

If you are going to move the Silkie, do it before you give her any eggs. Make sure she is happy and settled on the new nest and does not break from being broody due to the move or have other problems. And mark the eggs so you will know which ones that egg stealer should have.

The move could easily break the brood of the Ameraucana. That is a major change and the stress just might do it. If you can, I'd suggest putting her in an individual box with a nest and keep that box dark during the move. Don't forget she needs plenty of air and watch for the box overheating, but try to keep it as dark as you can. And try real hard to not have any air blowing directly on her during the move. And when you get her home, keep her locked in a dark nest for a while, at least overnight. Many broodies only leave the nest once a day for food, water, and a daily constitutional, so you are not being as cruel and mean to her as some might think.

It sounds to me like you have more eggs coming than the Silkie can cover and that you planned to hatch them in an incubator. If so, you have lots of options. I'd probably keep all the eggs in the incubator until the broodies settle down, then decide what to do. You can always give the broodies a few eggs and hatch the rest in the incubator, then give the chicks to the broodies once you know how many chicks and broodies you wind up with.

Good luck! Sounds exciting.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Well, I got her a tote and she doesn't seem to like it. She left it to go back to the floor. I'm afraid of letting her on the floor with my eggs and almost 55 other chickens mulling around her (12x22' shed). My eggs should get here tomorrow.... While I am over 160 miles away...

 

[NewToFarming]

My girls love to brood in the covered kitty litter pans. You could give something like that a try??? Also a few like to use cat carriers too. You are right, it probably isn't a good idea for her to brood on the floor of the coop like that. Others could step on them.
Then when the chicks hatch I put them into cages so I can put food & water in for both mom and chicks. I use dog crates and rabbit cages and they work great to keep babies safe until they get a bit bigger and stronger. Then the moms will take them out of the cage but always bring them back to it at night for bed.
Hope you can get something to work for her!