Silkies adopting babies

[Namaste Mama]

So I have read that some people have their silkies take care of chickies that are not their own. What do you all do? Just bring the silkie in and show her the chicks and tell her to get to work? Dose the Silkie have to be laying or broody? Or would a non laying pullet baby sit? Thanks!

 

[Master S.M.C]

I'd say introduce then towards the end of her broodyness so she believe she raised them.

 

[katrinag]

Each hen is different. You can try putting them together and see what happens.

Do you have babies that you want a silkie to take care of?

 

[conny63malies]

I heard of silkies stealing chicks from other hens.THey will do anything for a chick-fix.

 

[vfem]

I already had silkie chicks when I got my oldest silkie Hen... I was afraid with them being 6 weeks old she's show control and the pecking order would begin. I introduced them and WHAM both chicks were under their new mama and she babied them from the word go!!! She did this until they were 12 weeks old!!!!

Silkies, sometimes they just wanna love on something.

 

[herechickchick]

Mine tried to kill the babies I gave her. She was broody for over a month. I gave her 2 chicks and she was horrified. Needless to say she is a ding bat.

 

[whitecra]

I had 2 silkies sharing 4 eggs. I also had some eggs in the incubator that weren't silkies. When the eggs hatched at around the same time. I gave one of the silkies the silkies babies and the other one got some of the babies from the incubator. She took them and they took to her.
Chris

 

[FarmerDenise]

I wait till my silkie has been broody for at least a week and then I sneak the chicks in under her. I let her sit on plastic easter eggs and then when the chicks "hatch" I break open the plastic eggs as I put the chicks in. I doubt I really even have to to do that, they are such insistend mothers. With some of my other breeds, it seems more succesfull to put the chicks in in the evening after sunset. Most of the time I can't wait though. I've had only one chick rejected by the hens so far and that one ended up with a severely crossed beak, so maybe the hen knew something was wrong with her.

 

[Namaste Mama]

Hmm, yeah I am getting some chicks in the mail tomorrow and hatching some next week. My silkies haven't laid and egg yet, so no broodies. I was hoping because the weather is so nice that they could take care of the chickies instead of putting them in a brooder.

 

[Chicky85254]

Stacey- if you're referring to the silkies that I gave you, they were trying to cover the other chicks that were the same age with their wings at night when I had them. So...you might be in luck, they might just take to it!