That's nice that you can have space to brood chicks. One thing about gentle Silkies that are brooding, is that other assertive hens will muscle their way into the gentle Silkie nest to lay their eggs. I have two Silkies and if one goes broody the other Silkie wants to lay her eggs in the same box with the broody. Why some chickens can be so mean or pushy I don't know. Once you know a Silkie is going broody it would be good to cut her off from other breeds so their eggs don't get deposited into the Silkie nest; otherwise the oddball hen eggs won't hatch the same time as the broody Silkie eggs and there's no need stressing the Silkie sitting on more eggs than she needs to. Put a broody Silkie divided away from other hens, even other Silkies, to keep her nest clear of other hen's depositing their eggs which won't all hatch at the same time. Why some hens muscle their way once they know another hen is broody is puzzling. If the broody is cutoff from food/water access make sure to take her out of the nest at least a couple times daily to eat/drink/exercise/dust-bathe while she's brooding a nest. And don't forget vitamin supplementation too. Show us pics of babies if you hatch any!
