Hatching itch

[Kim95037]

So would six eggs be too many for a silkie to hatch at the same time???

 

[CluckyCharms]

What size is your Silkie and what size are the eggs? I've seen some pretty massive broody Silkies and then I've seen some really tiny little ladies, so that has a great deal to do with it. To hatch eggs successfully the broody must be able to shimmy herself down so that her lower chest and abdomen cover the eggs. What size are the eggs...I mean, are they hers or another hen's her size or are they from humongous breeds...that makes a difference too (contrary to popular belief).

IE: If your broody Silkie is a tiny little girl and you want her to sit on 6 jumbo sized Delaware eggs she might have problems dispersing her body heat equally among them.

 

[Kim95037]

My silkie is pretty tiny, she actually looks bigger to me than she really is in this picture. Im thinking about 3 bantam easter egger and 3 silkie eggs. Definitely not full size chickens. Maybe I'll go with 4 instead.

 

[CluckyCharms]

She'll be fine with all 6 in my opinion, especially if they're bantam eggs...if she's broody that is. =D

Good luck whatever you decide to do! )

 

[Kim95037]

Thanks! My silkie goes broody like clock work about every two and a half weeks. I thought letting her hatch some eggs would get it out of her system. Boy was I wrong on that one!

 

[Kim95037]

Dangit, now I cant decide if I want to get 6 eggs or 4 eggs.

I dont want to get too many and end up with chickens I may have to part with if I get too many roosters. I dont want to get 4 eggs and have only 1 hatch. Any suggestions????

 

[CluckyCharms]

I seem to be the only person you keep hearing from, I'm sorry. I hope more people chime in on this thread to lend some more experienced advice for you.

If it were me, I would put all 6 under her. The ratio of cockerels you'll get versus pullets? There's really no way to tell. A friend of mine just hatched out 3 pullets and 13 cockerels in the same clutch. Someone else I know just hatched out nothing but pullets - 0 cockerels in a clutch of 7.

I would go ahead and put 6 under her, because even if you place 4 under her, you may still end up with 4 cockerels. =/ (again, just my opinion of course, nothing factual other than the gender ratio when hatching)

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I agree with clucky, put all 6 under her. And no you cannot predict ratios of cocks to pullets.

 

[Kim95037]

Yeah I figure my luck will run out at some point. The three eggs I hatched were all pullets.....

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

its a total crapshoot really. I watched a friend hatch out 100 pullets in 2 sets then for the month following they got 75% cockerels out of every single set.