Help w/my first broody hen please

[magsrags]

My first try at this. Please be patient with me.

One of my silkies went broody last week and today I see she has 7 eggs setting. She is fine. ....being a great mommy it seems.
She occupies a small coop with her araucana boyfriend Jack and her sister Coco. They all get on well. Jack literally sits at her side a lot and it is adorable. She hops up & eats & drinks in a big rush and then sets again.
OK, my questions are:

1) Can she continue to stay with them in this small coop for the laying term & through her hatch safely? Or should I at some time seperate her? Will the roo be kind to peeps?
2) Can I place some other chicken eggs under her..... for her to hatch for me during this time? When is it too late to add them?Or can I even pull hers and just replace with eggs I want?
3) I am confused.....do the eggs she lays over the course of the 8 days she began.... all hatch on different days as well?

Phew...........Can ya tell I am NEW to this?

 

[scooter147]

1. If all you have in the coop is three chickens she should be just fine. I would mark the eggs she is sitting on with a pencil, that way if the other hen lays and egg in her nest you will know which one it is and you can remove it.

2. I think 7 eggs is plenty for a silkie to cover and hatch, any more and she won't be able to cover the clutch and keep them all warm.

3. The eggs will all hatch at the same time give or take a few hours, I have had them hatch as late as a day after the majority hatched. She should not have started sitting on the eggs until she finished laying this clutch of eggs.

4. As far as the roo is concerned. I have had roos follow hens with chicks and protect them with his life and I have had roos that peck on chicks with (what I believe) an attempt to kill them. You will just have to watch him closely and remove if he is aggressive towards the chicks.

 

[Dar]

another question

if you have a silkie that has chicks with her can you give her eggs too? or is that to much for her?

 

[scooter147]

It doesn't work either way. If you give her eggs and she sits on them she will ignore the chicks and they are likely to die of dehydration, but the more likely scenerio is that she will ignore the eggs (in her mind they are not viable) and take care of her chicks

 

[magsrags]

OK, I really appreciate your input.:<))I am going to mark her eggs today and any more I will pull from now on. I think she is stealing the other hen's eggs as well as there are NO eggs in there anymore for me to take.LOL
She has been setting on them since day 1 though. What to do now? Pull them all and replace with others?

 

[scooter147]

If she has been sitting since day one, you will have the issue of a hatch that can take up to a week. The issue with that is what I mentioned in the above post.
It depends on what you are wanting. What eggs do you have to replace the ones she is sitting on? Do you want her to hatch her own chicks.

 

[magsrags]

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Well I have a choice of letting her hatch her own, or putting some true amaraucana & black copper Maran eggs under her. I'd actually prefer to hatch those than her mixed eggs right now.

 

[scooter147]

Then that is what I would do, she will be known the wiser

A silkie is a small bird and those eggs are on the large size just make sure she can cover what you give her. I would think eggs that size that 6 might be the limit.

 

[magsrags]

Great! Thanks so much for your help. I feel more comfortable for sure.

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