I have a broody silkie what to do?

[WIChookchick]

So I just found out one of my silkies born this year, has gone broody..
We are in WI... so it is going to be COLD out... already is.. but with snow gonna fly soon..
Should I just pull all eggs till she stops?

Thanks
Carol

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Nah. Stick some eggs under her. It's loads easier than trying to break her. My first silkie went broody one January. Temps were hovering around 30 or so. She was fine and hatched out 4 sweet babies. They did fine. When they got cold they would snuggle up under her. Once they warmed up they would satellite around her happily. They were all just fine.

If it is snowing or there is snow on the ground you might block off part of the coop for mama and babies so they don't have to go out in it. Other than that, they will likely be fine.

 

[WIChookchick]

We do not use a light bulb, or any heat in our barn/coop. We can use a smaller coop with hay and clothe covers over that in a barn stall, with plastic up to prevent drafts.
It gets down to -20 and further with wind chill....
Should we Prick the eggs with a pin to dry them out, and when they don't hatch she gets off of them?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I have never had a silkie willingly give up being broody. I had one sit on nothing for a week, on eggs for another three weeks and then on nothing for another week when her eggs died. She finally gave up being broody when another hen hatched out some babies. She took over half of those babies and was happy as could be. Silkies are hardheaded.

My coops are not insulated and I don't use a heat lamp or anything either. Granted, it doesn't get down in the negative temps here. It does get down to single digits though. I have had two silkies go broody in winter. Both were fine. They had smaller hatches for sure. I made sure that the coop was dry and had a lot of shavings in it. I did block off an area when the chicks were really tiny so that they had to stay in the coop with mama. My coops are all elevated and the babies have a hard time getting back in until they are a week or so old.

I don't know what to tell you. You can try doing a search on here on how to break a broody. Some people have a lot of luck with breaking broodies.

 

[WIChookchick]

Well I Talked to my barn owner about the hen...our older black silkie is also going broody, So we are going to put some larger hens' eggs under them to hatch out too!!
I board my chickens along with my horses.

Carol

THANKS for the info

 

[sourland]

You get some pretty low winter temps there, but if you provide a draft free environment along with a protected area for sleeping, they may be able to raise any chicks that hatch. One of your biggest problems may be providing enough water for growing chicks (freezing problem). If the chicks survive the first week or so without becoming chilled, they should be OK. "Winter" chicks always feather out more rapidly due to the low temps they are exposed to. Good luck, and keep us informed on how you make out with this.

 

[augustmomx2]

I have a silkie that is hovering around the broody stage as well

I pulled the eggs from under her today and within an hour she was up, out and about

This summer, however, I had a BA that refused to break, so I pulled the eggs everyday and allowed her to sit for her 21 days. One day she hopped off and has been one of my best layers since! I just don't want to have to deal w/babies in the winter. In the Spring if they choose to go broody...I'll let em'

 

[serendipityfarm]

They are such determined little mamas. My broody sat on nothing for DAYS after I separated her out and took away the nest. I left her a piece of bread one night because she loves it as a snack, and in the a.m. she was sitting on it!
I agree, stick some eggs under there. If you need to, can you hang a heat lamp?
Good luck, and def. keep us posted!