Shall we let our silkie have her babies?

[mangobingo]

So we have a little silkie chicken, maybe 9 months old, and another silkie who turned out to be a rooster. We also have an Australorp, a Barred Rock, and 2 older Buff Orpingtons. This morning I saw little silkie in the nest box, so I went away to let her lay her egg in peace. A couple of hours later, she was still there, and she was STILL there when the BF looked in the late afternoon. She doesn't look obviously sick, and normally free ranges all day, so I assume she's sitting on an egg!

But now I have LOADS of questions. First, is it OK to pick her up to see if there's an egg under here? Then, will she keep laying more eggs while she's sitting there, and trying to hatch them too? More importantly, the BF and I are going away for 3 weeks in a month's time. That's only a week or so after the chick would hatch, right? We can get friends to do the basics of cleaning up and giving them food and water, but we don't know anyone especially knowledgeable about chickens. So the little silkie would be left all alone with her chick(s), the 4 other hens and the rooster. Plus, we have mongoose round here, who will go after chicks, and the coop isn't mongoose-proof at all. So what do you think? Should we just take the egg away?? What do people do when their hens want chicks that they don't want? I would love to have silkie babies but I'm not sure this is the right time

 

[CountryFried]

Sounds like she's being broody.

 

[justbugged]

Keep taking the eggs away from her, at least until she isn't broody anymore. The best method for breaking the broody cycle is to puyt her in another cage or pen without a nesting box and leave her there for a few days with water and food, and she should get back to normal. With that said I have 3 Silkies at the moment that are all broody.

 

[CochinsGirl]

I have two broody Silkies right now. Our Silkies are only 7 months old. I just let them have their eggs to sit on. If they hatch, we'll have chicks. If not, I'll take away the eggs. My youngest daughter, who adores the Silkies, is hoping for at least one baby.

 

[abhaya]

I think the ? was would she be ok if you leave her after hatching. Personally I would build a brooder for her and chicks to keep them safe and reintegrate them when the chicks are a bit bigger to keep the mongoose at bay. My brooder is a extra large dog kennel that is colapsable I set it up when I need and fold it down out of the way the rest of the time.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

If you are worried about predators while you are away and it could cause heartbreak in the end after the chick hatches...I would take the eggs away.

 

[mangobingo]

Well, it turned out that the little silkie had 3 eggs and a golf ball under her, so we marked the eggs (like I read on another BYC thread) and decided we could turn the old small coop into a predator-proof brooder (thanks for that advice). But then we went out again a bit later, only to find the hen in the neighbouring nest box and the eggs all cold. Will I ever understand my girls??