Broody Silkies on Chicken Eggs

[Bellastaff]

Hi - I have both silkies and leghorn chickens, kept in separate yards. My hens never go broody but my silkies are broody often. I really wanted to breed some chickens so I put some of their fertile eggs under 2 of my broody silkies. They all recently hatched over an 8 day period. However all of my baby chickens were found dead the day they were born. I would really appreciate any information anyone might have to shed some light on why this might have happened. Thanks Rob

 

[Fishkeeper]

Did they look like they were attacked? The broody or another chicken could have killed them. Is there a rooster?
Silkies are pretty frequently used as surrogate brooders due to going broody easily. Ordinarily it works out fine, but you may have a bad one in there somewhere.

 

[Bellastaff]

They looked intact to me - no sign of any injury. The 2 silkies that hatched them have previously hatched baby silkies with no problems. They are always housed away from the rooster when breeding.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Did you have a temperature plunge that could have killed them?
Did they have food and water dispensers appropriate for chicks?

 

[Bellastaff]

Hi again. Yes everything was as it should be. I have never had this problem before and have successfully hatched about 12 eggs. Thank you for your comments - it may well remain a mystery!