Questions on useing a silkie hen as a broody

cat1994

Songster
9 Years
Sep 12, 2010
1,065
6
153
Southeast MO
Hey every one I have some questions about useing a silkie hen to sit on eggs and raise them

1) If you have a coop of nothing but silkies and u let one go broody can u keep her in the coop with the rest to set the eggs and raise them or do u have to move her to her own lil coop?

2) Are they known to kill chicks that are a diff. color from them?

3) Will they brood duck and geese eggs and raise them?

4) If they do sit on geese eggs can they trun them or do i have to do it for them?

So sorry for all the long questions I hope i can get some answer

thanks so much
 
Hi there!

This summer I had two of my silkies set eggs. I did separate them from the rest of the bunch to keep them safe and comfortable. Silkies are known to be excellent broody's and excellent mothers. Mine have been wonderful. They each hatched two eggs and it's amazing seeing them co-parent with each other.

I'm not sure how to answer the egg question. Silkies are know to sit on anything and anybody's eggs so maybe. As for the turning, they 'should' be able to do it themselves. But if not, it may get a little complicated turning them yourself. You want to minimize disruption while they are brooding.

Sorry I can't be more help. I'm sure someone else will chime in.

Good luck!!
 
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Thanks so much for your help i hope more people reply
 
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I don't have Silkies but have had many of my hens, mostly the mixed-breed bantams, go broody and set eggs for me. I think it's ideal to house the broodies in separate quarters so that other hens don't interrupt them & try to lay their own eggs in the nest, and also so the broody hen doesn't get misdirected on her way back from her daily breaks and go back to set on a different nest. There have been other discussions with pictures showing broody pens.

My hens have set on other hens' eggs, on duck eggs and goose eggs too. Once I set duck eggs under a hen and a week later added chicken eggs so the chicks & ducklings hatched on the same day. I have had bantam hens successfully set goose eggs (one at a time).

All of the hens have lovingly tended to the children they hatched, no matter what species. The ONLY exception was a ditzy Houdan who harshly pecked the gosling she hatched. I had gone out to her broody pen and found the hen in the nest but the gosling already hatched & dried standing next to her. I picked up the gosling to admire it but when I put it back down the hen jumped off the nest & began pecking the baby. I never gave her another chance to prove that she would be a good Mama hen, but put her back with her flock & gave the baby to another bantam who had also hatched a gosling just a few days prior.

I never had to turn or spritz the duck or goose eggs my chickens have brooded.

I wish you success, having hens hatch & tend chicks has been one of the best aspects of keeping poultry for us.
 
Hi, and Welcome to BYC
1) If she is housed with any hen that desires to go broody, no matter the breed, another hen could try to sit with her, or possibly steal her nest. Moving her, or leaving her there is up to you. Most of the time you can catch such things before they actually happen, so if she looks cozy and it is easier to leave her then, then give it a shot (if other hens are laying in the nest you can make penciled X’s on the eggs that you want to hatch)

2) Silkies are pretty easy going, but I never had a hen in general kill chicks that are a different color then them with such intentions. I have had a crazy Plymouth Rock that tried to murder her chicks after she hatched them (we ate her), and hens/other fowl in general can attack chicks that aren’t theirs.

3) If anyone could hatch duck/geese a silkie could, as they don’t seem to take much notice. I would feel perfectly comfortable throwing duck eggs under my Silkies, but wouldn’t with my other breeds (especially my gamefowl) I have heard from someone though that their Silkie hatched out ducklings once and after that never went broody again, and had a hard time dealing with the fact that her kids liked to play in the water.

4) They should be able to turn them on their own. If you really want to make sure make some pencil marks on the eggs (O on one side X on the other for an idea) and take a peak every once in awhile to see if they are turning them.

Happy hatching!
 

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