Is she too old?!? (HELP)

[SunnySid3Up]

This is my 9 year old silkie, she's nothing special "pet quality." She has been sitting on eggs for a while now, none of them are hers. I'm concerned that sitting on eggs and going broody might make her healthy decline, so I'm kind of worried about it.

I don't know if I should take the eggs, and incubate them myself or let her keep sitting. I also don't know how many eggs she can fit under her she has 9 under her right now, when is it enough? Is she too old, please help.

 

[sourland]

As long as she is leaving the nest to eat and drink and has not been setting more than 21 days, she should be fine.

 

[ChurchGirl]

Just make sure she stays fed and hydrated. You could put some feed and water close to her, but she should be fine.

 

[Anon112]

I agree. Let her do it, and just keep an eye on her. When my one hen was pretty far into broodiness and I was worried about the weight she was dropping, I'd bring her some water-soaked feed. Sometimes she was "in the zone" and ignored me, and other times she would eat the whole thing!

 

[SunnySid3Up]

Thank you all!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I recently learned from @Ridgerunner that before a hen goes broody, her body puts on a ĺayer of fat to sustain her for the job. So while she may lose some weight during the incubation process, it probably won't do her any harm. He says she should have enough to sustain her for up to about 5 weeks, and when that is spent she will most likely quit. He says he has never seen a broody starve herself to death and I believe him. It would certainly do the chicks no good to hatch under a dead hen, nor does it make sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Chickens are probably a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Hens need to get off the nest to eat, drink, poop and dustbathe to get rid of lice and mites. If we do not see them do that it is probably because they make sure we don't.