I have a broody hen and fertile eggs! Help needed!

[4 Georgia Hens]

Howdy yal! I have a silkie that I believe is broody! Even if she isn’t, I want to have this thread as a reference.
So she is sitting on a bunch of fertile eggs. They are all her eggs. I know that they are fertile because she is bred at least once a day. None of them are marked so I know very little about them. If she is indeed broody, I plan to let her sit on all of them and we will see what happens! Here are my questions:

Should I move her to an empty coop so she can be alone? If yes, when?

Do I need to supply her with food and water in the coop?

How many chicks can an average silkie properly care for?

Please give me any other tips that yal think a newbie will need! Thank you

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Hey yal! Update:
My hen is officially broody! She leaves the nest once a day in the morning for about 10-15 minutes to eat, drink, and poop. The 11 eggs should be hatching Dec. 1st. We are so excited!

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

You guys! We have a chick!!! One egg also has an external pip! We are so excited. I must have miss calculated!

 

[GrannyHeeney]

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Hey yal!
Mama and her chicks are doing good. I just have one quick question:
The chicks' mother is a pure black silkie and their father is a cuckoo silkie. What will they look like once their feathers grow in??

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

On and off doesn't sound promising. She would have to be a dedicated broody to hatch eggs. You can candle each egg to check for development. There are threads describing how to do this.

I know! She is new to this. Today she stayed on the nest almost the entire day. She got off 2 times for 10 mins each. That is promising!

 

[Shorty22366]

Let her be. I wouldn't move her. She will need food and water close. I had a silkie hatch 11 chicks and took great care of them all. I left her in the coop with her flock and never had a problem with them
She took them out of the coop when she was ready. My rooster helped her bring them in at night.
All my silkies stay with the flock when they are broody and after hatching them. They are left to raise them as they see fit.
They know how to protect and provide for them.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Let her be. I wouldn't move her. She will need food and water close. I had a silkie hatch 11 chicks and took great care of them all. I left her in the coop with her flock and never had a problem with them
She took them out of the coop when she was ready. My rooster helped her bring them in at night.
All my silkies stay with the flock when they are broody and after hatching them. They are left to raise them as they see fit.
They know how to protect and provide for them.

Ok! Thank you so much for answering my questions. I really appreciate it!

 

[Shorty22366]

I have the same situation, even a similar bird (Mollie's half Silkie, half Cream Legbar). What a time to go broody! She's small, and Gus is even smaller than she is. Gus has only been here about 2 months, but he has managed to wrangle all 4 hens and there is very little bickering now (2 BRs, Mollie, and an elephantine light Brahma ). I haven't gone in to check yet--my daughter spotted her brooding--but I believe she has 2, both hers and definitely fertile, as she's 2nd favorite hen next to Pearl the Brahma. The BRs can be cranky with the other hens, do we need to worry about them messing with Mollie's chicks if she manages to hatch them?
Here's a pic of the momma-wanna-be

She will protect them better than you can. Hens are just like human moms over protective.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

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Sweet bird! Good luck to yal!