HELP! Broody Silkie

[JaxGrits]

I have a teeny tiny little black silkie who started laying on July 4th. She laid an egg every single day until about July 25rd at which point she started to show signs of going broody. We tried putting a bag of ice in her nesting box but she just sat on the floor of the coop instead. (At first I put her little egg on top of the ice but she rolled it away which was pretty stinkin' adorable.) We are now on the wire bottom cage tactic. She is in a wire dog crate that has a wire bottom about 2" off the ground. It's in a very well lit room. The cage does have a roost but now she seems to be broody ON the roost! She has food and water in the cage and will only eat it if I physically take her off the roost and put her in front of the dish. I've also taken her out of the cage a few times a day and put her outside with the other girls- she runs around the yard, eats grass, poops, drinks water, etc for about 30 minutes and then wants to come back in.

Should I take the roost out? I'm running out of ideas.

 

[goldies99]

give her a few days in the wire cage...see what happens....I think you can leave the roost in the cage

 

[donrae]

How long has she been in the wire cage? It often takes 3-5 days to break a broody.
Since you have a silkie, you'll probably want to read through the multiple threads here about breaking a broody. Unless you want to let her hatch babies (and remember you'll get on average half roosters!), you'll probably be dealing with keeping her from brooding more often than not.

 

[JaxGrits]

We are going on day 3 of sitting in the wire cage (on the roost) and she's still at it. And of course now my little buff silkie (who has been kept separate from the broody silkie) has been sleeping in her nesting box and has pulled some of her chest feathers out-like she can smell the broodiness! This is so frustrating!

 

[bobbi-j]

And I'd love to have another broody.... Sigh

 

[drumstick diva]

I would take the roost out. I also would have her crate higher off the ground so you know air is coming up under it. Sometimes a hen has to be in the "broody breaker" cage a few times until she gets the idea. But she will likely decide she is broody again at some future date.