Silkie thread!

[PaintedFeathers]

Would I be able to get them to broody so how?

silkies or cochins? Silkies you can usually just leave the eggs with them and they will collect a pile and then brood.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
Silkies are broody. Cochins are broody. Silver Phoenix are Broody. You will not be able to "get them to broody" if they aren't a breed that goes broody. And they go broody when they want to, not when you tell them to.

Being broody means they stop laying - for the 21 days, plus however long they take care of the chicks (4 weeks to whenever). Most egg producers do not like chickens taking a "vacation" to hatch eggs - so they choose only the hens that do not sit on their eggs and only hatch from those hens - that is what is called being "bred out" of the breed. They also add leghorn (notorious for never going broody) to their breeds - gives them more eggs but messes with the genetics big time.

This has not been done with the three breeds listed above, that's why they still set on their eggs. Silkies were originally created to be broodies - that's why they are so good (or bad) at it.

If you have a Silkie hen - and you put about 4 golfballs in a nest - she will probably oblige you and try and hatch those golfballs....

 

[PaintedFeathers]

Ice went broody for like 3 days, then started laying again

But she has given me an egg a day for the past couple days so i'm happy I guess. I can't decide though if I want to leave the eggs with her to try to get her broody again or eat them or sell them

 

[RockerHen]

I had two more chicks hatch. Another nice looking silkie and a surprise silkie x OEGB. I incubated the OEGB's egg because her eggs haven't been fertile for years (no bantam roos) but while cracking her eggs into the pan I noticed they suddenly had a bullseye. I guess my silkie roo finally caught the wily free range girl. She is teeny tiny, much smaller than him. The chick inherited her size, it seems. It is dwarfed by its silkie hatch mate. I'll post pics tomorrow when they dry off

 

[PaintedFeathers]

Do these look fertile to anyone else? I have NO idea how they could be, I haven't seen Snow doing his job, and I don't think my ameraucana cockerel is old enough to know what to do yet? Should I try and collect some and incubate them? I have one she layed today and I turned my incubator on

 

[ChickNmamma]

Do these look fertile to anyone else? I have NO idea how they could be, I haven't seen Snow doing his job, and I don't think my ameraucana cockerel is old enough to know what to do yet? Should I try and collect some and incubate them? I have one she layed today and I turned my incubator on

They might be - but they don't have the darker "bulls-eye" I am used to. Mine have the white center and a darker ring around them. Only way to know for sure is to try and incubate them... but if she quit setting then she probably thinks they aren't either.

 

[RockerHen]

Do these look fertile to anyone else? I have NO idea how they could be, I haven't seen Snow doing his job, and I don't think my ameraucana cockerel is old enough to know what to do yet? Should I try and collect some and incubate them? I have one she layed today and I turned my incubator on

Kind of hard to see, but I don't think they look fertile . The spot is just so small. With my fertilized eggs, it is a rather large pale, regular shaped disk surrounded by a larger circle. A more clear pic would help (less glare) but I would say incubate a few just in case, it couldn't hurt

 

[PaintedFeathers]

They might be - but they don't have the darker "bulls-eye" I am used to. Mine have the white center and a darker ring around them. Only way to know for sure is to try and incubate them... but if she quit setting then she probably thinks they aren't either.

Kind of hard to see, but I don't think they look fertile

. The spot is just so small. With my fertilized eggs, it is a rather large pale, regular shaped disk surrounded by a larger circle. A more clear pic would help (less glare) but I would say incubate a few just in case, it couldn't hurt

I was having a hard time getting a good picture, my camera has a mind of it's own! It looked darker in person, and definitely has that ring round the outside. I have been looking at infertile eggs from the farm stand and there is a difference. I guess i'll collect a few and play the waiting game again! ChickNmmma she is a new layer, and she really seemed to have no idea what she was supposed to do with the eggs. She would sit next to them, sit on just 1, roll them around under her, burry them, or just plain ignore them

I wasn't expecting any to be fertile so I was pleasantly surprised to find this looking like it might be possible. Also, how long does it take for a breeding to "take"? I want to try AI with them but I need to figure out how first lol last attempt was not successful in the least.

does this help at all I tweaked the picture's brightness and contrast

 

[RockerHen]

I was having a hard time getting a good picture, my camera has a mind of it's own! It looked darker in person, and definitely has that ring round the outside. I have been looking at infertile eggs from the farm stand and there is a difference. I guess i'll collect a few and play the waiting game again! ChickNmmma she is a new layer, and she really seemed to have no idea what she was supposed to do with the eggs. She would sit next to them, sit on just 1, roll them around under her, burry them, or just plain ignore them

I wasn't expecting any to be fertile so I was pleasantly surprised to find this looking like it might be possible. Also, how long does it take for a breeding to "take"? I want to try AI with them but I need to figure out how first lol last attempt was not successful in the least.

Aha, I finally found my picture of my first fertilized silkie egg. See how large, even and circular it is? Unfertilized tend to be more shapeless and small. Hopefully this helps you decide

on breeding and 'taking' I witnessed a roo breed a previously unexposed hen and I started getting fertile eggs 3 or 4 days later.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
If they look darker in person, and they look different than the ones from the grocery store - then I would guess they are fertile. If he got her only once in the last week - I bet she is fertile. I don't see my roo jump anybody - but all the eggs I got were fertile... I just ate the wrong ones!