Why is my hen sitting on nothing??

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faithlyork

faithlyork

In the Brooder
5 Years
Sep 12, 2014
16
0
22
Hello all. I have two silkies, one hen one roo. My hen started laying eggs about a month ago. One here and there. I have been able to tell when she goes in to lay. She will go in her box and sit for a while. When she comes out I have an egg. Well today I noticed she went in the coop but not the box. I went out after a while to see if she laid, but she was just sitting there. So later I decided to put a store baht egg under her and she nestled right on top of it. So why would she sit with no eggs? Was it a bad idea to give her one? I was just curious. These are my first chickens.
 
Most likely, she is going broody, which almost all Silkies do. She will probably sit on the nest whether there are eggs or not. If you have further questions, I would recommend putting it in the "Flock Management" section or any other apt section.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Yes sounds like she may be going broody. Broodiness is driven by hormones. So when they think it is time to raise chicks, hormones tell them to go set somewhere. They can set on nothing in the corner or even a pile of rocks! LOL They just can't help themselves.

If you have any fertile eggs you can slip some under her, if not she may just stay broody for a few weeks till her hormones tell her nothing is hatching from her pile of nothing.
 
Thanks for the welcome and the information!
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if she is sitting will she still lay eggs? What is the timing on fertilization? if she sits for a couple days without being with the rooster and lays, will that egg be fertilized?
 
When they go broody, they stop laying eggs. If she and the rooster have been mating for at least 2 weeks, she should then be laying fertile eggs. If she goes back to laying, her eggs will be fertile for about 2 weeks even if she is not mating with the rooster. 2 weeks later, the fertility of the eggs will drop off considerably until she and the rooster mate again.
 
I'm surprised she didn't sit on her own egg. Maybe the broody hormones didn't hit her till after. Usually they lay eggs in the nest and stay with them till they have the amount they want to hatch. But, yes, broodies can sit on air and think they are hatching eggs. Chickens are not rocket scientists - well neither are we. And you can slip fertile eggs under her of any breed you want, and she would raise them as her own.
 

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