Hen won't leave her nest......?.??

[77jester]

I have a silky bantum. She has been an amazing little layer!! The last two weeks though we haven problem. She won't leave the nesting box??? All day-she just stays in there. I take her out and lock the pen and let all my chickens free roam my yard, but she just runs around the door-back and forth- till I open it and five minutes later she's back on the nesting box.

I have no roosters, so I'm obviously not having chicks, how do I get her out??????

 

[donrae]

She's broody, it's the thing slikies are known for. Her little chicken brain is telling her to have babies and she doesn't know the eggs aren't fertile. There are lots of threads on here about breaking a broody.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is one of those threads Donrae mentioned.

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186

You not having a rooster doesn’t mean she can’t hatch eggs. You can find fertile eggs if you want her to hatch. Find your State thread in the “Where am I? Where are you” section on here and post there. Talk to the people at your feed store. They might know someone with fertile eggs. Check on Craigslist.

It will take a little work but if you really want them, you can find them. Most Silkies are bantams so she may not be able to cover a lot of eggs. 4 to 6 may be plenty.

Go ahead and break her from being broody if that is your desire. I think you should either break her or give her fertile eggs, but you do have options.

Good luck!