Good Grief....now I know what broody means!!

[mrsengeseth]

Holy MAckerel!! Muppet (Silkie) went broody on me. SHe went from following me around like a puppy to sitting on her nest and growing like a guarddog in no time flat. I moved her water close to her but am at a loss as to what to do for her otherwise. I have no roos, and no eggs to give her to try with. So i don't hink i want her to sit, but really what can i do? If I had eggs that I knew were fertile, i'd let her give em a go. But...I don't. And the chicks I have are 2-3 weeks old already. Any ideas? I mean if I had some cash, I'd order her some olive eggers or some welsummer eggs maybe, but I really don't see me falling into money anytime soon. SO getting her any seems unlikely. What should I do? let her brood till she gets borded of it? figure a way to get some eggs?

 

[GaNewChick]

Can you check on Craigslist in your area to see if someone has a few eggs to sell you...maybe 1/2 dozen ~ cheaper that way?

 

[thechickenchick]

My Silkie is broody right now too! I would be happy to send you some free "designer" (mutt) eggs for her to sit on. My roos are a Silkie and Australorp. My hens are RIR, Wyandottes, EE, BR, Cochin, and Australorps. The EE eggs are the only ones I can tell apart of course, besides the Cochin. They are light green. If you are interested just pm me your address. It sounds like you may prefer pure bred and that's fine too. I just wanted to offer!

 

[TriciaHowe]

Yep, you can look for eggs on CL or post an ad looking for eggs. If you want to break her I just take away any eggs she could be sitting on. They figure it out pretty quick. I have 3 broody hens and a broody duck all sitting right now. M duck is the nicest.

I have 2 hens broody in the same nest box. I got tired of trying to break them so I just let them stay in there now....

 

[Judy]

Does anyone around you sell farm eggs to eat? Here they go for $1.25 a dozen.

To break a broody, put her in a wire cage, elevated so there is air flow below her. Give food and water but NO nesting material. Hopefully she will be over it when you take her out in 2-3 days.

 

[LizzyJo]

They're funny when they get broody--they take it so seriously. I guess that's where we get the idea of brooding, or thinking about things to excess. I wonder which came first, the chicken or the word?