i heard silkies are go broody often. i have 3 four month olds and i wanna know if they only set 2 times a year like other chickens or do they set year around?
Silkies are known broodies that can go broodie at any time so ive heard yours are a little young yet but give them time they will start egg hoarding and giving you the stink eye when you try looking under them.
They lay a clutch of eggs, go broody and set, raise the chicks, and repeat the process several times a year. They will go broody when their hormones tell them to-not necessarily when you want them to. Some will go broody and set in the winter but only if they are cycling and lay eggs first.
Our one silkie hen decides when she wants to be broody, and it's almost all of the time. She is housed with a few other dual purpose hens that lay eggs daily. And the silkie has not layed an egg for over 3 months now since these other pullets are leaving her gifts all day long every day. She just randomly sits on everyone's eggs until I collect them and then she goes about eating and drinking with the other birds in that coop/run. Our silkie is about 18 months old.
My current batch of silkies are right at 5 months old. They just started laying, and I have one that is trying to go broody. She doesn't set tight but spends about half the day in the coop, arranging straw in her favorite nest box. It varies between birds. I have had silkies stay broody pretty much all the time, if I pull the chicks from them. I've had one that never did go broody. If you want them to hatch eggs, try giving them golf balls or fake eggs that you leave in their nest. That will sometimes encourage them. I had one that used to round up anything egg-shaped and set on it. That one spent a lot of time trying to hatch rocks.
