how long can I leave my broody silkie hen sit?

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

she is not even sitting on eggs! been there for 4 day/3 night... I did MAKE her go out to free range today but as soon as I walked away she went right back in her box. Is it ok to just let her sit. I never see her eat or drink...is this normal?

as you can see she was telling me to buzzz off

 

[Muggsmagee]

They can sit for a long time, but if you want to break her from her broody mood, I would suggest setting her up in a different location. There are several threads on here that talk about it. Now might be a good time to give her some eggs to hatch, though?

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

Im just getting started and have no eggs for her to hatch. In fact i dont have a roo. ( least I hope not ) do I need to move her or will she be ok if I just dont bother her?
she was laying eggs everyday but its been a few days now with no eggs.Ill look for some info here too. Thanxs for the tip

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Here is one thread discussing ways to break a broody hen's mood: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181289

But I think that Silkies tend to be exceptionally broody, so your hen may be more difficult to re-program, and/or she will want to begin brooding again very soon. Go ahead & try putting her in a Broody Buster cage, and see how easy it is to change her mood, and how soon she will want to go broody again. I don't think it's fair to continually put a super-broody hen in a Broody Buster. It also wears on the health of a hen to continually sit brooding on an empty nest. If you don't want to add to your flock or bother with having to sell/give away extra chicks, see if there is someone in your area who would like to have your hen hatch eggs for them. A Silkie can hatch eggs from other chicken breeds, even other species of poultry.

 

[Lollipop]

If you want to just let her set and noth bother breaking her, she`ll be fine. She will eat, drink, and eliminate as needed, without your assistance. When nature takes a different route, she`ll go back to laying with the other girls. Don`t worry about her.......Pop

 

[briteday]

Our lone silkie hen is 18 months old now. In the beginning she was a good layer, egg every day. The first couple of times she went broody, we broke it within a few days and she would resume laying after 21 days. For the last 4 months she has not layed an egg, not one. If she weren't so cute she would get re-homed. I don't have eggs for her to hatch. But she is cute.