Silkie won't get off the nest.

[fall-apart-dave]

I have a silkie who will not get off the nest box.

She is not laying.

At first I assumed broody, but this has gone on for months now. I tried everything to break the broodiness but to no avail. When I throw her off the box she will scratch around a little but then goes straight back. She is eating and does come out for food at feeding time but again, runs straight back.

She has started to loose feathers but I am assuming she is moulting.

We have a brahma who she seems to be scared of, and I have witnessed occasional pecks but no injuries.

What else may cause this as I am worried about her now.

 

[nuthatched]

Lock her in a dog kennel, no bedding but has a roost, food, water for a few days.

 

[flockofdovz]

Silkies are notoriously broody. I've heard of some hens going broody for a year or more...What you described are classic broody signs: 1. stop laying; 2. are in a trance and scratch around and then run back to the nest box; 3. loss of feathers on the stomach. We had 2 Australorps go broody this summer and after one snapped out of it, she molted at the one year mark and lost a lot of her feathers. But if they are broody, they typically only pluck the feathers on their stomach so that their skin is flush with the eggs. They won't molt while broody since their body knows they need the feathers to keep the eggs and chicks warm. If you really want her to snap out of it, you'll need to look up the advice of others for breaking broodiness. Other option if you want to grow your flock is to give her 2 chicks that are less than 3 days old or buying hatching eggs to put under her. Both have their risks and you may end up needing an incubator or brooder if she rejects either...

 

[Debbie292d]

Silkies are notoriously broody. I've heard of some hens going broody for a year or more...What you described are classic broody signs: 1. stop laying; 2. are in a trance and scratch around and then run back to the nest box; 3. loss of feathers on the stomach. We had 2 Australorps go broody this summer and after one snapped out of it, she molted at the one year mark and lost a lot of her feathers. But if they are broody, they typically only pluck the feathers on their stomach so that their skin is flush with the eggs. They won't molt while broody since their body knows they need the feathers to keep the eggs and chicks warm. If you really want her to snap out of it, you'll need to look up the advice of others for breaking broodiness. Other option if you want to grow your flock is to give her 2 chicks that are less than 3 days old or buying hatching eggs to put under her. Both have their risks and you may end up needing an incubator or brooder if she rejects either...

This pretty much sums it up for me.

This is Marsha. Marsha is worthless. Isn't that a shame?



It's been about a year. I put her in the wire dog kennel I use for broodies that takes all the rest of them 3-4 days to break. Not her. After weeks of being out of that cage for a couple of hours, she was walking around the yard like she's got chicks behind her. Back in the cage. Then I thought, let her be broody and see if in three weeks she'd break herself. Nope.

I incubate their eggs but for the last batch of this year, I thought I'd let her sit on them instead. Only 6 of a dozen hatched, and another hen took over care of the chicks. They are a month old, and she's not gone broody yet but I assume she will after the other hen abandons the chicks. We shall see.

For the broody jail, it's just a large wire dog cage, pull the tray out from the bottom and set it on a pair of bricks. That's so air flows under them. I put a short 2x4 board in there so they don't have to stand on the wires. I tie a feeder and waterer to the inside so they don't spill them. They aren't safe at night here so I always put them in the coop at night, and if in the morning they don't get off the nest, then back to jail they go. Usually three to four days for most. Just not Marsha as she's almost perma-broody.