Silkie hen went broody

[grandledgechickie]

WE HAVE A 1 YEAR OLD SILKIE HEN THAT WENT BROODY THIS WEEK. WE HAVE DECIDED TO LET HER GO NATURALLY AND CLOSED OFF A SECTION OF THE PEN JUST FOR HER. SHE HAS 5 EGGS UNDER HER TODAY, HOW MANY IS USUALLY IN A CLUTCH AND HOW LONG SHOULD IT TAKE FOR THEM TO HATCH WHEN THEY ARE THIS WAY VS. PUTTING ALL THE EGGS UNDER HER ALL AT ONCE? i KNOW IT USUALLY TAKES 3 WEEKS WHEN YOU PUT EGGS UNDER A HEN TILL HATCH DAY, NOT SURE THIS WAY. ALSO, THIS MAY BE A DUMB QUESTION, WE'VE BEEN AT THIS A YEAR AND ARE STILL LEARNING, BUT IF SHE HAS BEEN SITTING ON HER EGGS ALL WEEK AND FORMING HER CLUTCH AND HAS NOT BEEN MATTED WITH THE ROOSTER ARE THEY STILL FERTILIZED?? WILL THEY HATCH 1 EVERY DAY AS THEY WERE LAYED?
THANKS FOR THE HELP

 

[Judy]

In the wild, they usually lay a "clutch" or collection of eggs, then begin sitting on them. When the first ones hatch, after about a day, she will leave the rest of the eggs to raise her chicks, so no, the rest will not hatch unless you remove and incubate them.

All about broodies:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[grandledgechickie]

We were'nt sure cuz she has been sitting on them intently for the whole week so were weren't sure when to start the count down

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:
Not to be a pee-head, but I would like to point out that the original poster did not ask about wild birds, which exhibit vastly different behaviors from those raised in captivity.

When OUR hen went broody (not a silkie--which, incidentally, I believe do not exist in the wild), we put 11 eggs under her (we do not have roosters so I bought fertile eggs). One of the infertile eggs, she ate very early on (shell and all). Of the 10 eggs that she sat on for the entire 21 days, 8 of them hatched. Some of the eggs hatched on a Friday, some on Saturday, and the last one on Sunday. Olga stayed on the nest with them until they had all hatched. She did not take any of them out of the nest until the youngest one was about 4 days old.

The simple answer is that it varies from bird to bird based on species, environmental conditions, fertility, whether or not they are her own eggs, etc. Please do bear in mind (as many others here on BYC have drilled this into my head over and over, as I have asked this same question previously) that wild fowl and domesticated fowl do not exhibit the exact same egg-laying or broody behaviors.

The important thing is to relax and have fun.

Good luck, and here's sending you and your flock good hatching vibes!

 

[grandledgechickie]

Thanks to The Chickeneer

We have hatched numerous times and used our Cochins as "moms", but this is the first time we had the silkie go broody and so we thought why not let her do her own thing!
I'll let you know how we make out