Broody trying to hatch cement! :(

[Khyree]

So i have a broody silkie that we keep trying to move to a nest box. (we move her there at night) every morning she gets right back up and goes straight back for her favorite piece of cement (a little hidey hole by the back door). so we have decided to let her hatch out a few eggs. we've moved her inside to a nice cage with food, water, and a nest all her own so there are no interfering busybody hens allowed, and she's not liking the arrangements. it's very obvious that she wants her cement spot. the eggs should arrive within the next day or so. should i put some fake eggs beneath her? would that help her adjust? should we just let her keep walking in circles?
any advice would be welcome.
Thanks!

 

[Kittymomma]

I'd let her out and then tonight take her off of her cement nest and put her in the broody cage with some fake eggs. Cover everything up so it stays nice and cozy/dark in there and then check on her mid/late morning tomorrow. Hopefully she'll have settled down and accepted her new spot. Sometimes they don't though and the broody bug gets broken when you move them. Since she's a silky you probably have a pretty good chance of things working out. Just remember that nightime is best anytime you want to make a change with your chooks, they're too sleepy to get really stressed out and tend to just accept things the next morning.

 

[Khyree]

Thanks. i put her outside and she went right back to her spot. didn't even stop to sniff the treats. so we'll bring her inside tonight and make her cage dark dark dark until hopefully she settles on the 'new' nest. *crossed fingers* here's to hoping the eggs show up tomorrow! Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Kittymomma]

Let us know how it goes. After breaking my BR 3x by moving her I moved my broody EE well after dark, had the nest w/eggs all ready for her and covered the whole thing up with a towel to keep it dark and it worked great. She's a week into now and gets up once a day for 15 minutes or so and scratches around then comes back to her nest without any problems. I hope it works as well for you as it did for me this time.

 

[Khyree]

So, I brought her in last night after the others had gone to bed. Then kept the cage completely covered until about 10:30 this morning. I've lifted just one of the towels so that some natural light goes in, but she's not interested. It seems like she has taken to her new nest.

I put a couple of the boards that she is used to 'smelling' in her cement spot up to make the nest itself more enclosed. She has snuggled right in.

: She is still breathing... but as far as i can tell that's all she's doing.

next test comes when the eggs arrive (will she turn them?)(nicely?)

 

[Kittymomma]

She should do just fine. You can never tell for sure with a first timer, but I think your chances are really good. I'm glad she decided the broody box is as good as cement....

crazy little chicken trying to hatch cement.