What's going on with this hen?

[quiltnchik]

I have a Silkie hen that's about 10 months old. Last Friday she decided to go broody, so I waited until Sunday night and put a few extra eggs under her (she was only sitting the one she had laid). She has a little coop and run all to herself, her own food and water, and none of the other chickens can get in with her.

All was well until yesterday morning. When I went out to let everyone out, she was pacing at the door of her run, wanting out with the other chickens. I opened the back door of the coop to feel the eggs, and they were ice cold, so I let her out. When I went back out yesterday to gather her eggs to throw in the compost, she jumped back up in her coop and sat right back down, so I gave her 3 eggs that were collected yesterday. By this morning she did the same thing; wanting out with the others, so we let her out and, once again, tossed the 3 eggs. After 2-3 hours, she had gone back in. When I checked on her, she gave me the warning "squawk" to let me know not to bother her, so I closed and locked her run door to keep everyone else away from her.

What can I do differently to get this hen to stay put, or is she just not quite ready yet? Any suggestions? I'm wondering if she will EVER decide to actually stay put and hatch out some chicks.

Thanks!

 

[supercalliefragilistic]

Has she ever been broody before? She sounds like a newbie, not quite getting the hang of it yet. Or maybe it's like when someone goes on a diet and then caves and says "Oh, I'll start tomorrow...." HAHAHA

 

[lotzahenz]

I have hens like that sometimes. I often just break the broody phase if possible by placing her in an open-air, wire cage for three days with no eggs or box. If she is determined after all that, give her a few more days and then give her some eggs. One thing I do know, eggs can get completely cold and still hatch, I guess it depends on HOW cold. In the summer, I have had eggs sit in a nest without a hen for over 24 hours and just hatch a day late. Good luck, just sounds like you are dealing with a teenage mother!

 

[quiltnchik]

Thanks for the information. I just went out to collect eggs and peeked in on her while I was out there. She gave me the warning "squawk," but I went ahead and put 2 freshly-laid guinea eggs under her. She'll probably come off of those again tomorrow, but we'll see. It's not a great loss if she does!

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