experts please advise - do i give her eggs to sit on or not??

[technodoll]

Oh dear... never been in this situation before so I'm reaching out for expert advice...

Subject matter: Angelina, silkie hen almost 10 months old

Situation: Angelina has been in the broody breaker cage for two weeks now and her hormones just. won't. quit. I've never seen one go for so long

However yesterday she was showing signs of weaning off the "gimme eggs" rage, so I put her back in with her flock last night.

I found her in the nesting box this morning, fiercely guarding eggs... of course.

I decided to put her in the brooder condo, with one fertile egg as a test, so she's all set to sit and have those darn chicks.

Of course now she wants nothing to do with it, she's mad as heck!

I checked on her a few times today, sometimes she's pacing in the condo, sometimes she's eating, or bathing, and then sometimes she's on that egg and puffs up and shrieks if I come close.

She's driving me crazy

So - do I take the chance and give her more fertile eggs for her to sit on?

Or do you think her hormones will quit midway and I'll be stuck throwing out half-developed chicks?

I really really don't know if, after being in the broody breaker cage for over two weeks and then moved around, if she has eggs now that she will sit on them for the next 3 weeks!!!

PS: I cannot let her sit on eggs in the coop where her flock is, so it's either in the brooder condo or... back to the breaker cage...

Anybody?

 

[JodyJo]

I have heard different ways to break the brood....you need to cool her off, you can suspend her in a cage so air can swirl under her...water bath, cool/cold water....what if you give her golf balls or fake eggs to sit on?

I am NO expert...I just saw nobody answered you....good luck!

 

[technodoll]

I guess it was a sticky question to ask

Our broody breaker cage is just that, a small wire cage (with a wire bottom) on legs, with plenty of air flow, light, food, water and nothing else.

Normally broody hens are done with their hormones after a few days in there, one silkie lasted 10 days but this one is a record-breaker.

Ah, I just don't trust her to complete 21 days on eggs, she's not going into the "trance mode" so I'll just put her back in the wire crate and eventually she'll go back to normal...

(I wanted babies, now I'll have to wait!)