I wouldn't count on just the single Silkie doing much hatching; my birds - all 5 or 7 of them - lay and protect 24 eggs or so, and when they think they have enough, they all sit on them, taking turns getting food and water; they do all this procreating in an elevated small Dogloo, and after they've brooded the chicks for some number of days, they kick them out of the Dogloo, and the chicks must go down the ramp to get to the ground, where some of the mothers teach them about doing all the things they need to do to stay alive. The male Silkies are not excluded from the family, and the free ranging LF birds, both cocks and hens, leave them alone, even with free access to the Silkie pen. That's how my Silkies do it, on their own with no supervision, and in a tight single family unit, the more hens the merrier. They didn't lay eggs their first year and didn't get broody for long periods of time; when one hen went broody and stopped laying, they all did, but they are quite prolific layers when they are laying. Your one hen might incubate a broodi, but I think her chances would be better if she could sucker some of the other hens into a co-hatching arrangement with her. My Silkies didn't like the ramp, either. They would go down to get treats or yummy leftovers, but we had to gather them up and lock them in at night. ''Twas not fun for awhile.
Except for the amount of water consumed and the continuous need to keep the the open bowls free from poop and debris, I absolutely totally agree. Of course it is hot now, and they are drinking enormous amounts of water, but even in winter, I think my layer flock of 15 needs to have its 5 gallon waterer refilled at least once a week- which would be fine if I had only one water station to attend to. But with upwards of seven, I'd like to have to have to visit not more than one per day in the very coldest months of the year. (I was raised, after all, in the hot Sacramento valley of California.) If your coops/pens are not very far from your house, if you can easily keep them clean and fresh, if you don't have very many elictrical connections and extension cords to manage, heated dog bowls make a lot of sense. And they are especially great for smaller coops.
One can keep open water clean by elevating it on something so debris cannot be kicked into it. Last winter I used a two step stool from the kitchen...one step to stand on and the other to hold the water bowl.....kept the water VERY clean. This winter I'll build a flip down platform for the same purpose. Temps here got to -16F (-26.7 C) last winter with the water staying quite warm and clean all the while, with 10-12 in. of deep litter in the coop floor.
