sikie hen won't leave nesting box???

[deedra11]

hi i am a first time chicken owner & my silkie hen has been in the nesting box for two days. Yesterday she was sitting on one of my barred rock hen's egg & today she laid an egg in one box & is laying in a different nesting box now. I'm not sure if she is sitting on one or what? I have a rooster & I do not want any chicks so what should i do? How often do they do this?

 

[Illia]

They will do it a lot.

If you don't want chicks, just remove the eggs from her daily, at least twice a day. Then you're all clear - She'll either give up or sit there for 21 total days, then be done with it.

 

[92caddy]

Thats a silkie for ya. We have some that will try to sit on eggs or a empty nest all year long. You will just have to keep taking her off the nest. We have had to put some of our hens in a wire cage to breck them from wanting to sit. Or just give them golf ball or rocks to sit on.

 

[deedra11]

so do i just pick her up & steal the egg from under her? Is it weird that she was sitting on a egg that wasn't even hers? Do they even know?

 

[sourland]

They have absolutely no clue as to whom the egg belongs. If it is "egg like", they will attempt to hatch it while in broody mode. Since she is a silky, she may attempt to set for far longer than 21 days. If you want to break her of being broody, remove her from the nest box and confine her to a suspended wire cage for a week or so. It's just nature's way. She is wanting to provide the next generation.

 

[Buugette]

Mine tried to "hatch" a plastic rock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This thread might help you. It gives different techniques and different people's opinions. I prefer the cage with a wire bottom myself.

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186

I personally think it is cruel to not break a broody if you do not give her eggs to hatch. They do not eat, drink, or exercise as much as they should and usually lose some weight when broody. I think in this weakened state, they are more susceptible to parasites and disease. I will admit some are a lot harder to break than others.

 

[Buugette]

In the summer when it was really hot, I broke one of my silkies by keeping her under-side wet... she didn't like it, so she didn't spend much time in the nest... only took a day or two. I also blocked the door to the coop so she couldn't get in. It was funny, my other girls would be over by the door pacing and kind of like hopping... like a kid who has to pee... cause they couldn't get in to lay their eggs. I did open the door for them, and they practically killed eachother getting to the nest box.

Just make sure she eats and drinks why you are attempting to break her.

Best of luck...

 

[MommyToThree]

I just had this happen with my silkie too. I used a wide stick to gently lift her up and over a bit and then got the eggs out from under her. She would always find new eggs the next day so you have to keep doing this until she gives it up; for me that was three weeks. I would have loved to let her hatch some chicks but they would have hatched out two days before we were leaving town for three days so I couldn't let her. Good luck.

 

[BarefootMom]

oh I am so jealous! I want a broody so bad!

I have been trying to find some silkies for awhile now but I am not paying $15 for a laying hen! ( more twice what I paid for my others) and I haven't found any chicks that are local and cheap enough!