Can anyone explain this hen's behavior??? Video

[Three Cedars Silkies]

This little hen is off and on broody all the time! Of course, she's a silkie!!

However, we just take her out of the nesting box and put her outside with her DH and the other girls. She fusses and runs around trying to get back in. She'll usually break her own brood in about 7 days or so as long as we make sure there are NO EGGS in the nesting box. That means collecting them several times a day...but it works for her. She had just laid her egg actually!!

Now we have a black silkie hen that was broody for about 60 days and we couldn't break her until I gave her some eggs to hatch. She hatched them and was a great mama for about 3 months...now she's broody again and I don't want to hatch any eggs right now. If someone wants to send me eggs to put under her she'll be glad to hatch them for you. Then you can pick up your chicks and I can have some eggs from her again!!

 

[WalkingWolf]

Ayup, she is collecting nesting materials, either she is not happy with the bedding of her nest or she wants a new one. Some of my pens I put nice clean wood shavings for nesting material only to come back to find most the shavings replaced with twigs and pine straw they collect and put in the nest.

 

[NoseyChickens]

Wow I had no idea that doing that meant anything. I have a little silkie that likes to sneak into the nesting box with the bigger hens and lay her egg with company. The whole time she is in there she covers herself AND whoever happens to be in there with her with pine shavings! Too funny.

 

[Msbear]

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I have a friend (coconut here on byc) who lives right down the road from me. She has a few silkies and comes by regularly to grab some eggs. I get all the roos

and most everything else. It's a win win.. win

situation.

Cute bunch of cluckers you got there, OTG

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

We have a HUGE nesting box that was given to me by my aunt who had 3 huge chicken barns with a contract from Gold Kist until last year. It is a 12 hole box for 13 hens!! Of course, they only lay in a couple of the nest but a lot of the birds sleep in the boxes at night. Anyway...they are filled with very nice, soft coastal bermuda hay that is cleaned out every couple of days and the hay is replaced every week. She's gonna have to get over it!! They are so freaking pampered already

 

[JenEric Farms]

SHE IS SO CUTE! I didn't know they did this, thanks for posting.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I believe that's how I acted when I was getting ready to deliver my kids! LOL Thanks for sharing.. Dixie

 

[possumqueen]

I had a little dog who had a litter of pups while she was staying with me. I knew when the pups were going to arrive because she kicked all the other dogs out of the house and shredded a week's worth of newspapers behind my chair in the front room -- and adopted my bedroom slippers. She licked them till they were slimy, tried to get them to nurse, and broke her heart when I tried to put them in the washer. I had to let her keep them till the pups arrived.

 

[LyonFuzz]

I think she just wants hair extensions....eh, feather extensions...LOL!

 

[Smokin Silkies]

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