So I have been having a VERY hard time breaking one of my Silkies from brooding! Its been 3 weeks and I have had to put her in confinement for half the time to get her to eat and drink! Plus try to break this, but every time she returns to the coop with all the chickens she goes right back to her broody self! I don't want to leave her in confinement that long she seems to become depressed and very lonely. I have done everything! I feel terrible taking her eggs every morning, but I think its to cold to allow her to hatch a few herself right now! I am up in Northern Wisconsin, we had a terrible cold streak last week dropped below 0 degrees all week. I am considering just letting her do it so she stops and doesn't kill herself! BUT I don't know where to go about this since I have not let any of my chickens hatch anything, I usually can break them of there broodiness plus on top of its winter. Will she be fine to do this in the coop with everyone else? Or does she have to be separated from the rest? Plus I will have to check her eggs to see if they are even fertile. Are chickens like ducks where they can tell if they are fertilized? My ducks kick out the bad eggs. Thanks!
I have no experience with this whatsoever but can you just put some plastic golfballs or fake eggs under her? I don't think she'd know the difference and after you allow her to sit on these for 3 weeks she'll abandon the nest with no hatches.
