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I have a silkie hen that lays her eggs in the corner of the pen, all the other chickens use the nest boxes in the coop. Are there any tricks or ideas on how to encourage her to use the nest box?
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I have a silkie hen that lays her eggs in the corner of the pen, all the other chickens use the nest boxes in the coop. Are there any tricks or ideas on how to encourage her to use the nest box?
Can she get to the nesting boxes? Is the other chickens bigger than her? With silkies I have given up some times and just put a nesting box where she is laying at. Seem most of my silkies were Missing "something"---like part of their brain. But they are loved and their chicks always sold good.
She is my only silkie hen. I have 2 silkie roosters. The other 3 hens are standard chickens. She can get to the nest boxes easily, as she sleeps in one every night. I have 3 nest boxes. She sleeps in the far right and the rest lay eggs in the far left. The middle box rarely has an egg in it. I'm not terribly worried about it but my nest boxes are through the wall in my enclosed back porch and it's very convenient not to have to go outside and into the coop to collect the eggs. There is wood chips in the nest boxes and straw on the floor. I thought about putting straw in the nest box that she sleeps in to see if that helps. ?
She is my only silkie hen. I have 2 silkie roosters. The other 3 hens are standard chickens. She can get to the nest boxes easily, as she sleeps in one every night. I have 3 nest boxes. She sleeps in the far right and the rest lay eggs in the far left. The middle box rarely has an egg in it. I'm not terribly worried about it but my nest boxes are through the wall in my enclosed back porch and it's very convenient not to have to go outside and into the coop to collect the eggs. There is wood chips in the nest boxes and straw on the floor. I thought about putting straw in the nest box that she sleeps in to see if that helps. ?
She is definitely lowest on the pecking order. She doesn't get picked on as much as being ignored =( The pen is basically an open style coop with walls made out of hard wire cloth. The coop is really a coop in the coop but with solid insulated walls. They often choose to hang out in the pen regardless if their run is open to them or not. I've seen her lay an egg while the others were hanging out in the pen. It seem like if she felt threatened by the other chickens, she'd want to go up into the nest boxes and have her privacy. I'm looking forward to her going broody and I'm praying for 1 or 2 hens from her so she can have more companions. I hesitate on buying more silkies in hopes that they are hens as that's how I ended up with only one hen and 2 roos. (I'm sure many others have similar stories! LOL!) Maybe I should just leave well enough alone in anticipation of her going broody because I could easily block off the back half of the pen until the babies are big enough to join the flock.agree with CTken silkies tend to be bullied a lot by other breeds. Also their wing feathers aren't meant for flying. They can jump . It isn't so much that silkies are not the brightest bulb in the chandelier but, their big crests and beards prevent them from seeing well. Also makes them a target for predators. People who have cut back their crest and beards have found their personality and intelligence grows.
If you have(had) a group of silkies you would find them sleeping in a pile on the floor, in a corner. You may feel better about her egg laying choices, when she goes broody and you can use her as a natural incubator. Silkies are generally the best of the broodies.