LUCKILY a Silkie Cannot Count

[joebryant]

I've been adding newly hatched chicks under a broody silkie now for five days. She had previous sat on two infertile eggs for two weeks.
I just now added two more, and she accepted them. She now has seven. SILKIES ARE JUST NATURAL FOSTER MOMS.
This all began when my vet suggested I put a preventive respiratory infection medicine in my chickens' drinking water and toss the eggs for two weeks. I had a blue Orpington hen that had gone broody so I put a lot of collected eggs under her. Then a black Orpington hen went broody, and I collected several days worth of eggs and put them under her. Between October 16 and 21, the blue hen has hatched out eight chicks, one died; they've each been put under the silkie each day with no complaints from her.
There are none from the black hen or the new broody black hen that I shared her MANY eggs with. I don't know if there will be any to hatch, because the first black hen stayed off the nest for a long time after the third day. They were supposed to have begun hatching yesterday, October 20, but there's none yet.

 

[allieloveschickens]

What a good momma, I want pictures!

 

[racuda]

I have two Silkie hens, both with chicks. Last night I was checking on Silkie #1 and her 2 week old chicks and she only had 6 instead of 7. I found the missing chick under Silkie #2 along with her 3 one day old chicks. This past summer they routinely traded chicks back and forth.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
I had two silkies that rested and slept next to each other day and night, and the bbs Orpington chicks would move from one "mother" hen to the other.

 

[gretchenhau]

My muscovey hatched some chicks and my silkie won't let her near the ducklings, they are hers.

She also raised a chick that we hatched out, after finding some eggs no one would sit on any more.

 

[joebryant]

Make that EIGHT chicks. I just now placed another under her this evening. It, like the others, were hatched by the blue Orpington hen.

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
that black hen that stayed off the nest for so long just add an extra day or 2, they might be a bit late but still could hatch.

 

[Terri O]

Even if you have a few crossbred hens that have a small percentage of Silkie in them they seem to be GREAT moms! I have three and one was the sitting hen and as the eggs hatched under her the babies went to the "other" moms on the floor of the coop! When all were hatched there were about 25 chicks that all three Moms watched over until they were grown...and that is why I need to build ANOTHER coop!
Terri O

 

[jeb251]

cool Joe, and I was going to say if I get dark blue hens out of the chicks I hatched, I will bring them to you if you still need some.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Thanks, Earl, I might take you up on that if I don't get two really dark blue ones out of this hatch. I can't tell for sure how many blue ones there are, but you can come and get the blacks and splashes as soon as I'm sure they're black (not blue), or you can leave them all here until they're eight weeks. By eight weeks I should know whether the blues are not dark enough; if they're not, you can take all eight in one trip.