Persistent Silkie

[Elaine Elder]

You can put them in a wire bottom cage a couple days

Sometimes works / sometimes not

I hare had silkies sitting on rocks, golf balls, marbles, etc. Eggs Hatched in incubator. I put one under each hen. hen. 3 hens raised 3 chicks together. Too cute for words when Orpington chicks still tying to sleep under moms when they were the same size as moms.

 

[Purpletie3]

LOL...That's funny. If I saw a huge Orp under another I would just start out every day in laughs! I may have a chance to find out some day as I have 5 orps growing right now. About 2 months old- buff and crele

 

[JadedPhoenix]

You can put them in a wire bottom cage a couple days

Sometimes works / sometimes not

I hare had silkies sitting on rocks, golf balls, marbles, etc. Eggs Hatched in incubator. I put one under each hen. hen. 3 hens raised 3 chicks together. Too cute for words when Orpington chicks still tying to sleep under moms when they were the same size as moms.

Oh, I have no plans of discouraging her. And I believe Katie was asking how to make the silkie go broody, not how to break.

 

[Elaine Elder]

Sorry, It has never occurred to me to WANT a sitting hen.
I have about 25 Silkie hens and I have one or five sitting at all times.
Phoenix and Sumatras go broody when they are 3 years old and stay that way winter, spring summer, fall.
Wheaten Ameraucana hens are the same color as new shavings. I did not even see that hen tucked into a corner until she had 8 little fluffs following her around. I hate little ones outside in the middle of winter.

Yesterday, I pulled a coil of extension cord off the top shelf in the barn and got a face full of eggs and a mad Sumatra caught in my hair, I have scratches all over my face and neck. My husband looked at me, shook his head and said "I don't want to know"
Last summer, I was walking through the barn and a baby chick popped in front of me. OK that's odd. I stopped and contemplated for a moment. Another landed in front of me. My brain clicked. They were falling out of the rafters. I raced up the steps and tried to find the nest.
By the time I found it, 12 chicks had landed on the floor, but Mamma was too big to get through the hole they fell through. I had to herd her to the steps. She got down and attacked the great Pyrenees that thought chicks just appearing from nowhere was interesting also.

I have no Idea what makes a hen sit
Put her in a cage with a nice cozy nest all closed in and dark inside and put the eggs in the nest and see if she takes the bait.
Sometimes they will cluck for a week before actually sitting.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

No problem. I got my silkie and two cochins with the intent to let them sit. Though neither cochins have shown any interest despite being three months older than the silkie.

Of course those are the only three that I have in my flock that SHOULD go broody so even if all three did, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I couldn't imagine having a whole flock of broodies.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

I'm a little miffed off. I have been waiting for chicks from my cochin hen for two months (she has had two dud batches but she kept sitting so I gave her new eggs) and today when I checked on her I found that a chick had finally hatched after waiting out a dud batch and all. A beautiful Augsburger chick. The problem is that the hen killed it!! Looks like she won't be sticking around for very long since I only got her to be a brooder for new chicks. Clearly she can't be trusted to be a mother.


The good news is my silkie has gone broody once more just as I've put 10 eggs in my incubator. I'll keep them in there until a day or two before they are due to hatch before slipping them under her to hatch out. Hopefully she will live up to her breed's reputation for being good mothers; unlike the cochin. Fingers crossed.

 

[Purpletie3]

I'm a little miffed off. I have been waiting for chicks from my cochin hen for two months (she has had two dud batches but she kept sitting so I gave her new eggs) and today when I checked on her I found that a chick had finally hatched after waiting out a dud batch and all. A beautiful Augsburger chick. The problem is that the hen killed it!! Looks like she won't be sticking around for very long since I only got her to be a brooder for new chicks. Clearly she can't be trusted to be a mother.


The good news is my silkie has gone broody once more just as I've put 10 eggs in my incubator. I'll keep them in there until a day or two before they are due to hatch before slipping them under her to hatch out. Hopefully she will live up to her breed's reputation for being good mothers; unlike the cochin. Fingers crossed.

Oh boy...that's too bad about your cochin. Seems like there are quite a few people on here that have had that same experience. There is a rare bird farm that specializes in peacocks and they exclusively use cochins.

Best of luck with your little silkie!

 

[JadedPhoenix]

After the cochin killed the chick the other day, I brought the remaining eggs inside with me. One was an obvious dud but I couldn't tell about the other one since the shell was so dark. I popped it into the incubator and viola! It is hatching!!! Poor thing, it will be a lonely chick. I'll have to see if anyone at work with chicks want it. That or hope my silkie will accept it.

 

[Purpletie3]

After the cochin killed the chick the other day, I brought the remaining eggs inside with me. One was an obvious dud but I couldn't tell about the other one since the shell was so dark. I popped it into the incubator and viola! It is hatching!!! Poor thing, it will be a lonely chick. I'll have to see if anyone at work with chicks want it. That or hope my silkie will accept it.

She may accept it...maybe you can slip it under her!

 

[JadedPhoenix]

The silkie lost her broodiness when I tried to move her to a separate pen the other day. I went out to see if she'd settled down and she hadn't yet so I brought the chick to work and a woman with three broodies who are hatching out chicks now will take it to slip it in with the other newborns. It looks like it inherited its look from the Augsburger Rooster. I told the woman that if it ends up a rooster I'll take it back later on since she always has more roosters than she needs.