How Do I Get a Broody Silkie to Quit Brooding?

[FountainCityCottage]

I have two Silkies that have now been broody for 6 or 8 weeks. Is there anything I can do to encourage them to get off the nest and start laying again? If not, how long is this likely to last? Unfortunately, I have no way to restrict nest box access.

 

[BullChick]

Silkies are broody by nature. If you cannot give them fertile eggs right now, put them in elevated wire bottom cages. They need their undersides to stay cool, and after a few days to a week, they should stop being broody. However!!! It might take time to start laying again, and they will definitely be broody again in a few months.

 

[rosemarythyme]

6-8 weeks is really long, way longer than it would take to hatch and is detrimental to their overall health. You really need to break them by locking them away from the boxes, preferably in something like a wire crate with food and water that's slightly elevated to allow cold air to get in under their bellies. They need to stay in there until broken, but as they've been broody so long it may take a while for that to happen.

In the future if you do not intend to hatch, break them immediately and it'll only take about 3 days on average.

 

[aart]

It will take longer...but....

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.