Well I took your alls advice and I slipped 6 silkie eggs under my friends broody hen. 3 she threw out and they broke 2 weeks in, nothing. The others never hatched. So we took 8 more and sent them to a friends incubator..... nada. I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or if my roo is shooting blanks. Regardless my kids are heart broken and mommie is too. Boo.... hiss!
I recently got into chickens and wanted silkies so badly. I picked two out as chicks, a brownish one and a tan with some black. They're now around 7 weeks old and the brown is definitely going to be a partridge based on everyones photos here. I cannot tell what the other one will be. It is still tan, but just developed some streaks of reddish/orange on head and chest. Still quite a bit lighter than the other though. Guess its a surprise. And I have no idea how to sex them.
One of my partri girls has been broody for what seems like forever!! I have tried braking them but it really takes alot of time to dip ect and I'm not home enough during the day to do it and get good results.
So anyway one of the ways I brake them is to give them some chicks that I have fresh hatched out of the bator.
Well let me tell ya I have never had a silkie not take a chick. All of them have and done really great with them.
I went out to give this girl some babies and man oh man was she pure evil to them! You would have thought I gave her a snake or something! I had to grab themup pretty fast or she would have killed them from pecking like crazy at them.
I was really surprised!! Never had one do this b4. Her new name is Satan!
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i have a blue hen that does the exact same thing. Shes been broody since January and i cant stop her. I let her hatch then i gotta take the babies away or she'll kill them
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I had one. She took the chick and it did well for a day or so, but then I noticed that if it tried to move around she would get real grumpy and start pecking at it. I thought she just didn't want it to come out. Well, then I sat and watched her and if it got out in a place she couldn't see it was fine, but if it tried to go under her in front by her chest she got real pissy. Still I thought - okay, give her time to get used to it. I went out the next morning and it was dead over on the other side of the cage.
She would not set on eggs for more than a day either. But she still stayed broody for about 6 weeks until I found that if I dunked her in coolish water 3 times a day and kept her active and put her up on wire - after a week of that she was fine. But I am home all of the time and it takes almost constant attention. So much for wanting a broody hen..... But I did get one and she's got 2 adorable babies with her.
Sad news...I lost my EE Prissy the other day. Not sure why, I am guessing the heat. Then the next day my EE Betsy. They were sweet girls too. What a bummer. I thought everyone was doing ok out there. No one has been sick and laying is still pretty good, only down a little. I was relieved today when I came home and hadn't lost anyone. Goldie, my BO, was looking a little weak the other day. She is my heatstroke victim from June. I brought her in for 24 hours of TLC and electrolytes and she is good as new and back outside. I never had these issues in Indiana.
I've added electrolytes to all of the waterers out there for the time being anyway. I hope it helps keep them healthy, I think the heat is just taking so much out of them.
I know a breeder who is doing Ameraucanas and I contacted her to see about getting a couple girls to replace my lost EE's. I really want some blue and/or green eggs for my egg basket.
My cute little Partridge Silkies are doing really good and have quickly become my favorites of my whole flock. Oliver is such a sweet rooster. And the little baby silkie mix is such a energetic little stinker. I love them all.