Switching Out Silkie Eggs

[Whitey_75]

Hello everyone. So, I have a flock of silkies. They are black, white, splash and blue. I want to get some other colors in the flock and I have found someone who has different colors that would like to trade. My hens are sitting on 8-10 eggs right now. The other person would love to have the day old chicks when they hatch and I would like to hatch some of their eggs of other colors. Would it be possible to wait until these eggs hatch, remove the newly hatched chicks and replace them with new fertile eggs? I don't know if the silkies will sit that long, or if it is healthy for them to sit through two 21-day periods. Or if they would just get off the eggs and leave the nest. Will they stay long enough to hatch the eggs we put under them? Any suggestions on what to do with this?
Thanks so much.

 

[sourland]

The hens might set another 21 days. They might break broodiness somewhere along the line, or they might become debilitated and die. Generally it is not a good idea to let them set that long.

 

[Whitey_75]

Usually once we have one hen go broody, the others follow closely. Any thoughts about other hens following once one breaks broodiness after the hatch? So, if one hen hatches the 8 eggs, we remove those chicks, will all the hens leave with her? I just don't want to do anything harmful to the hens or the chicks.