I'm kicking myself today!

[Chic Chick]

I'm not new to chickens but I'm a newbie when it comes to silkies having got my first ones just 8 months ago. Well last month one decided to go broody but after sitting on the eggs for 5 days she abandoned them and so she went back in with the rest. Last week she went broody again so I've given her a bunch of eggs to sit on again.

On Thursday I noticed another one in the nest all day, same with Friday, so Saturday I set her up in the brooding pen with a nest full of eggs too. Yesterday I noticed she was off the nest so I took the eggs away thinking it was a false alarm like the first one. She was all ruffed up but ate a bit and went back into the nest so I left 1 egg for her thinking maybe she didn't quite know what to do. Well this morning I go in to find her off the nest and dead! What I mistook for broodiness was her slowly dying and I didn't have a clue! I didn't have time to do an autopsy so it'll remain a mystery, but it wasn't from freezing because she was less then 2 feet away from a heat lamp.

 

[chickenzoo]

It's not your fault, it would be very hard to tell either way. Being broody puts a lot of stress on their body and sometimes they surcome to the stress.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
I'm sorry your girl died Chic. It was probably something you couldn't do anything about anyway, like maybe she was eggbound or an internal layer.

 

[LynneP]

What a shame, I'm so sorry.
Broodies can 'go light' very quickly after beginning to set. You can feed them in the nest if you wish them to brood and if not, get the eggs our asap and if necessary, hand feed the bird to get her back in shape. Poor silly little girls- they will go hormonal and devote themselves to the eggs, utterly ignoring their needs. Some stay on the nest so long their legs weaken, and they can make some hideous stinky droppings. Dehydration first ( you can put a cup of water on the nesting box with a clamp) and then failing to eat...I don't even have a rooster but one of my girls tries to go broody frequently. Fortunately, she eats and drinks.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

She could have been broody & ill. It's hard to say. MItes/lice will kill a broody hen more quickly than one running around, dust bathing, eating and drinking at will, etc.

 

[Chic Chick]

Thanks for your feedback.
Well there is no mites or lice and I wouldn't think she was egg bound because she had laid an egg after I put her in the broody pen so that rules that out . The only signs were that she was puffed up and most of the time was sitting in a nest. I thought I saw her at the feed on Sunday, but maybe she wasn't eating or drinking enough. I'm also wondering too if the roosters were stressing her out and she was hiding from them and not eating or drinking...that's why I usually don't keep the roosters with the girls in the winter.
The blessing is that the other broody is still sitting on a clutch of 13 eggs and hopefully there will be some more blue ones in there.