I understand your being upset, and I am sorry you lost your silkie.
I just wanted you to understand that breaking a silkie of broodiness might not be practical, that it might be better to let her hatch and raise chicks.
There is really nothing wrong with their eating only once a day; that is normal for a broody. Usually, they will lose some weight, but not enough to be a threat to their health.
I will tell you my story. My broody is a Kraienkoppe. I caged her while she was setting because she would not get off the nest anyway, and it prevented the others from trying to lay in her nest or otherwise bothering her, which they were doing. I just about cannot stand the idea of caging an animal, but it was obviously just what this one needed, since she sat all day anyway. Of course, I put food and water in the cage (an old large wire dog cage.) The cage was in her usual coop. First morning, when I let the others out of the coop, she got out of the nest, so I opened the cage. She spent about 20 minutes eating, drinking, pooping, and even scratching, then she went back to her nest in the cage. So I closed the cage. That evening (and a few other times) I tried letting her out, but she would not get off the nest, except first thing in the morning. She did continue to do her thing for about 20 minutes every morning. In the afternoon, she would eat a little off my hand. It did not change much during the 21 days. I found one broody poop in the cage, and a few times I think she had eaten or drunk a little of what I kept in the cage, but mostly she did her eating and such in the morning when I opened the cage, as on the first day.
Kraienkoppes are another breed that, like silkies, are known for being very broody. She is currently raising 3 chicks that I bought from the feed store when the fertilized eggs I bought did not work out. Fortunately, now I have roos, so next time she goes broody, the cage goes back in the coop, and she gets fertile eggs to hatch. She is now raising her chicks with her flock, by the way. I removed the cage when she had chicks to raise.
Yes, she lost some weight while setting the eggs, but not really that much. After she raised her first chick, she put the weight right back on, and began laying again when the chick was a couple of months old. She is about 1.5 years old now, and this is her third time being broody/setting/raising chicks. The worst thing that happened to her was her second round of being broody, when she had no fertile eggs to hatch. She set for nearly 3 months. I had not found BYC at the time, and did not know what I was doing, and I let her set. That is the only time she lost a disturbing amount of weight. I will never do that again. I will give her eggs, buy chicks, whatever, to let her do her normal thing.
Your silkie could have died from any number of things. I would just hate to see you not give a broody hen the opportunity to hatch and raise chicks. There are ways to break a broody, but in the end, it seems to me that the healthiest thing to do with a broody is to let them do what comes naturally.
