Broody Silkies advice

[UncleClucker]

Hi there
I am new to this and have recently had a silkie go Broody. Couldn't snap it out so I purchased fertilised eggs and it has been sitting on them for the last 11 days with no issues.

My question is the 2nd Silkie (only have 2) is now Broody and wont leave the coup/keeps returning when moved. It sits on the regular brown chickens eggs when laid in the morning and wants to stay there.

I have tried over the last 2 days to lock it out, put ice packs to sit on etc, but Im thinking considering the situation I am in, is it possible to .....

Remove 6 eggs from under the current silkie, and put them under this one at day 11? I expect them to hatch in 2 weeks - will this work or cause any further complications?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Tevian]

Honestly the best method to stop a broody is to just… wait. Nothing I’ve ever done has stopped them earlier than they wanted. You could put her in a separate cage if she’s really bothering you, but otherwise just leave her.
I think you probably could halve the eggs between them? especially if you know they are all growing as expected. 6 each would be easier than one with 12.
Though I have had broody hens try to steal chicks from other hens before. I once had two hens mothering the same chick and everyone was very confused by it, so if you did do that I would personally keep them separate so they can’t mix up or steal each other’s babies, or try to fight one another about ‘protecting’ their chicks.

 

[Sussex19]

If all the eggs are developing, then sure, there's no problem with splitting them up.

 

[UncleClucker]

thanks for the replies! Yes the eggs are developing. We tried taking 6 eggs and the silkie sat on them for a few minutes, then got off and sat beside them looks at the eggs. We didn't want to take a risk leaving them out too long so we gave them back to the original silkie.

This 2nd silkie is sitting in the doorway of the coop where they all lay their eggs, and recently have been finding the regular brown chickens eggs rolling off the ramp to get into the coop. Im not sure if they are laying them on the ramp as the 2nd silkie is blocking the way and not getting up or what may be happening.

Our first silkie should be hatching some eggs in the next few days.. the question is (and it feels like cheating), if we sit the 2nd silkie on a few eggs and it stays, would that be OK to seperate them both and make the 2nd silkie a mother in a few days? Something doesn't feel right about doing it, but Im no chicken expert!

If this is OK, Im happy to put 3-4 eggs under the 2nd silkie and share the mothering which seems like a great idea. Just cant get it out of this state.
thanks