How many eggs can a silkie....

[gocrow77]

How many eggs can a silkie successfully brood? I have one that I thought went broody this morning - she sat til about 1:00 this morning and rolled the extra golf balls I added to her nest right away. But, then she got up later after laying her own egg and went about her business. Now after about a couple of hours break she is back at it now brooding only golf balls since I collected her egg from this morning. I have 5 eggs that I set in the bator after another broody abandoned them after three days. They are about a week from hatching and all are doing very well. I am wondering if she can cover them all since she is so tiny. 2 are bantam and 3 are from my LF Brahmas. Any thoughts?

 

[gocrow77]

Well, I guess I will just stick them under her and see how things go.......

 

[ginbart]

I'm sorry, I would help you but I don't know.

 

[gocrow77]

Went out this morning and she is stuck to the eggs like glue. They all fit under her nicely with a tad bit of room to spare. She growels at me when I get too close to her box - too funny! I hope she sticks with it - she only has to sit them for about a week and they will be ready to hatch.

 

[ginbart]

Are they her eggs? Or did you put other eggs under her?

 

[gocrow77]

They are from some of my chickens, but they are not her eggs. I had another hen that pretended to be broody for about three days and then gave it up. I "rescued" the eggs my bantam cochin had and put them in my bator. Now my little silkie hen has gone broody she is sitting them. Now they get a second chance at being raised by a chicken mommy! They will be LF Light Brahmas and Brahma mixes.

 

[ginbart]

How many eggs do you have under her? I working on getting silkies.

I can't wait.

 

[RooptyDoo]

I would not put any more then 6 under her.

That is the most I let my silkies sit on.

 

[jessithy]

I have two silkies that sit on eggs all summer long! It's almost annoying Usually they have 3-4 eggs at a time. But currently one has 14 of them! I know they can hatch at least 4 but I am thinking 14 may be a bit much

 

[gocrow77]

She has 3 LF eggs and 2 bantam eggs under her. She seems quite content!