Silkie hen hatching pheasant eggs-will it work?

[Dracoonfly]

I just have chickens, but a friend who has pheasants wanted to see if my silkie (who is very broody right now) could hatch some eggs for her. Has anyone ever tried this with any luck or am I just wasting my silkie's time? We put 8 pheasant eggs under her this afternoon and she seems content.

 

[poultryfan73]

i am planning on trying it but with silver pheasant eggs.

 

[Tony K T]

Absolutely,silkies are great setters,butyou need to put them in a cage with no holes for the chicks to get out.They are not like chicks that stay next to mom,they will take off and you will be lucky if you see them again.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Dracoonfly]

Tony wrote:
"but you need to put them in a cage with no holes for the chicks to get out."

Tony, do you mean the chicks would run off as soon as they're hatched or just soon after? I was planning on giving them back to the pheasant owner to raise in a brooder as soon as they hatched out. Should I put the Silkie in a cage when it gets closer to the time for the eggs to hatch or will moving her mess her up?

Thanks!

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

They wire that holds them in.

 

[Tony K T]

They will scatter as soon as they can.No not the wire BQL.Their instincts tell them to run and boy do they.
In N.H.,Tony.
Quote:

 

[philter4]

Quote:
Pheasant and wild type chicken (jungle fowl or hybrids) chicks can fly by the time they are 3 or 4 days old. They will take off and fly for short distances but far enough that it will be very hard to catch them once they are out. You need to have them in a covered cage with wire small enough for them not to be able to fit through or get stuck in.

 

[Dracoonfly]

Thanks all. After reading your posts and doing some more research, my husband and I have come up with a plan. We're going to keep the hen in the side of the nesting box she's in so she'll keep sitting. I don't want to move her and cause her to stop brooding. My other hens have already started to leave her alone and have been laying in the other nesting box. We'll screen her in with hardware cloth closer to the time the eggs are due to hatch. This gives her about 24 x 12 inches to herself, room enough for food and water. That way, if some hatch and I'm not around to immediately put them in the brooder, they should stay contained. Once all the chicks are out, they will go back to my friend to raise in her brooder. My girls free-range and I'm not set up to raise chicks outside.

Now I just have to see if I can figure out how to candle pheasant eggs.....

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
Pheasant and wild type chicken (jungle fowl or hybrids) chicks can fly by the time they are 3 or 4 days old. They will take off and fly for short distances but far enough that it will be very hard to catch them once they are out. You need to have them in a covered cage with wire small enough for them not to be able to fit through or get stuck in.

3 WKS YES, NOT 3 DAYS

 

[Riffecreek]

I think a silkie would hatch the eggs.. but It's a bad idea IMO. It's been said thousands of times on here that game birds and other "poultry" shouldn't come in contact with each other by ANY means. The broody hen could easily carry something that could be passed along to the newly hatched chicks.

Again, this is just my opinion, but I don't like taking chances of getting something in my birds that might wipe out half (or more) in a matter of a few days!