Hello Lady Fitz-Darcy,
"Would I know she is broody if I collect the eggs?"
Answer: Yes, you would know. Diagnosed broodiness is not about the eggs she has per se. The critical thing is that the broody hen's behavour changes radically. She becomes a puffed up rapid fire clucking little huffy mess. Most will complain bitterly if you handle them, very likely pecking you with great vigor but they quickly get over the handling and remain broody. I'm surprised that at one year of age your feathered lass has not already gone broody. These silkie creatures are machine-like incubators. Yep, you will know when and if she becomes broody.
"[COLOR=333333]Should I just test her once in awhile and leave one of her eggs in the coop?"[/COLOR]
Answer: Your hen is not likely to go broody having one egg remaining in her nest. At least not as reliably. Being a silkie, she might eventually go broody anyhow but remember the threshold effect is a much more reliable initiator of broodiness. If you put at least 8 and possibly 10 medium eggs about which you care not, in her nest, she will go broody quicker and more reliably. However, I don't know why a body would have her incubate just one egg. So when she goes broody make her happy with a full clutch of eggs; say eight or ten medium sized eggs. Or if you desire a batch of silkies give her as many previously stored, as described earlier, eggs that she will nicely cover (accomodate). She should be able to cover all her eggs, about a dozen if they are silkie eggs, not leaving any out in the chilly air. Making her broody as a test is not a great idea; it may amount to a form of cruelty for broody behavior is physiologically stressful and not something to tamper with unless you really want to hatch a clutch of eggs. Doing this successively will wear out your bird in time.
"[COLOR=333333]Will they (sic) automatically start sitting on that one egg?"[/COLOR] "They?" I think you meant she. We are talking about one bird here, aren't we?
Answer: Sure your hen will lay her eggs in a nest that others use but since you collect them you are interrupting her tendency and that of the others for that matter, to go broody. To have her go broody put her in isolation well away from the distraction of the other hens. She should not be able to even see them for best results. Put her in a wire cage covered from rain and wind and include her own nest box with the starter eggs. Say 8 or 9 medium sized eggs. (A warm spring or early summer is the best time for this project.) If she is anything like her sisters she will go broody in 3 or 4 days; a rare bird will be broody in 24 - 36 hours! Let her remain on the starter eggs for say 3 days. And then on the night of the third day slip your hand under her and remove the starter eggs unless these are the ones you want to hatch. This is to ensure that she is most likely to stay on the eggs you finally give her. You don't want her abandoning the precious eggs you desire to hatch. That is why you get her going with starter eggs about which you care not.
"[COLOR=333333]If she is broody, will she lay somewhere else? The coop box is not very private."[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333] Answer: I have addressed the privacy issue and that it is a must for best results. We don't want to distress a bird beyond the stress that is natural to being broody. Birds do not lay eggs after they become broody. The hormone system is in a different mode during broodiness causing her to cease laying. So she will not become broody and then go off to start a private clutch. It is a case of the eggs coming first and then the hen becoming broody. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=333333] I hope that this has been a help to you and all who read this admittedly pedantic essay. I just don't want any facet of the concept to be left to guesswork.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333] Sincerely,[/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333] Neal, the Zooman[/COLOR]
