She laid an egg...now what?

[Tabatha]

Ok...I have never let my chickens go broody; I just have had them as meat and egg birds. I got a set of silkies for my birthday and im addicted! I have people asking for chicks left and right, but she wasn't laying eggs at the time. Well, she laid her first egg yesterday. There is a huge chance of it being fertilized, as her man "likes" her...a lot...and often...and his...eh hmm..."aim" is good. So...now what? Lol. I get the process, I do, but I think I want chicks so badly that I'm gonna mess it up. Of course, I checked out the egg and took pics and gloated like *I* laid it myself. I put it back in the spot where she laid it...but now she's pushing it out of the way. Does this mean she doesn't want it? Will she gather her eggs when she's ready? If not, is it still ok to eat since it is going on 48 hours old? Another thing...is it ok that she doesn't go in a nesting box? She won't use her steps and is too short to jump up there (like a foot off of the ground). She built a nest in a quiet spot under my nesting boxes in which she laid this egg. If I set her up there, she gets back down. She seems to like being by herself.

 

[AlienChick]

Silkies generally do not like to get up in high places, so she will prefer a next box on the floor.
I use cardboard boxes in the corners and they love these.
If she is not broody, you can go ahead and eat her eggs or put them in an incubator.
You will know if she is broody cuz she will not get off the nest.
Congratulations on your first Silkie egg!!

 

[Tabatha]

So She Won't Just Lay The Eggs...Then Go Broody One Day And Sit On Them All? I Thought That's What They Did... I Didn't think They Laid While Broody.

 

[Gofygure]

Broody hens typically shut down egg production while sitting. Unfortunately, even the super-broody breeds won't just hatch eggs on the drop of a hat. Since she is probably quite young it will at least a few months before she is laying regular eggs and has the instincts to mother them. My guess is that she will be ready to go by next spring.

You can try to trigger broodiness by leaving a few eggs in the nest or using wooden replicas. Otherwise, if you want them sooner, you will probably have better luck buying a small incubator and hatching them yourself.

 

[AlienChick]

Broody hens typically shut down egg production while sitting. Unfortunately, even the super-broody breeds won't just hatch eggs on the drop of a hat. Since she is probably quite young it will at least a few months before she is laying regular eggs and has the instincts to mother them. My guess is that she will be ready to go by next spring.

You can try to trigger broodiness by leaving a few eggs in the nest or using wooden replicas. Otherwise, if you want them sooner, you will probably have better luck buying a small incubator and hatching them yourself.

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