Will a broody silkie hatch any egg?

[Dar]

I have a broody silkie right now she is sitting on 6 eggs i keep trying to find the unmarked eggs and remove them so i dont have a million babies..lol

BUT my question is....

next time she goes broody, If I put eggs from another hen, normal sized eggs will she sit on them too?..

or will she reject them cause they are about double the size as hers?

and I am really thinking i should remove the babies once she has hatched them. I left the last baby with her and now he wont come near me he runs and is scared like the rest of my silkies. The hens that i raised from day olds are real babies they come running when i call them. so I am thinking i should remove this clutch when they hatch..

opinions please....

 

[shortcake1806]

Yep, they'll sit on anything. Even a golf ball if you let them.

They can't cover as many large eggs but they don't mind them.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I mostly only put standard eggs under my silkies. They seem to handle 8 LF eggs just fine. Silkies will sit on anything.

Someone on here had one trying to hatch out horse pellets once. (At least I think it was a silkie trying to do that...)

My hen raised chicks are also very skittish. I find it takes a lot of work for me to get them used to me. My inside chicks are a lot friendlier, but I pretty much talk to them all day and handle them constantly. I've never tried taking chicks from mama because it is so much easier for her to raise them. Maybe take some away and leave her a couple. I imagine it would freak her out for the babies to vanish.

Dunno. Good luck either way.

 

[Ky Chicken Fan]

LOL on the golf balls... yep, they will sit on anything, or nothing at all if you keep taking their eggs away

I had one last year that would NOT give up. She had hatched her first batch which were her silkie babies, and then while still snuggling them at night laid new eggs and wanted to sit them even though she hadn't been with the roos. All I could get for her was a few standard Ameraucana eggs and she hatched and took care of those. It was funny to watch her confusion though as her babies got so much larger so much faster than her other ones. She kept trying to stick them under her wings when they were bigger than her.

Forgot the other part about the scardey chick. How old is the one she raised? I know that all of mine go through what my family calls "the idiot stage" when they run from everything and everyone... even (hmmmm...especially?) the ones that were raised in the house until they were old enough to put out in the baby coop. Suddenly it goes away and they want to come sit on my lap again. The ones my hens hatched and raised are my friendliest now that I think of it, the bator babies aren't....geez, you got me thinking...

 

[eggsrcool]

My light sussex hen sat on 14 of her eggs and hatched 10. 9 weeks ago she started sitting on eggs, which were of all diferent colours and sizes. There should be no problem.

 

[shelleyd2008]

A broody anything will hatch any eggs, you just have to be careful with the bigger birds hatching smaller eggs.

I would also let her keep at least 1 baby, if you don't, she'll just find the next best thing....more eggs! I have one silkie that is the hatcher, and 2 that are the brooders. This poor silkie has been setting for over a month, but her sisters keep taking the chicks as they hatch. I really need to go and take the other eggs away, but she has a 'donor' hen that gives her an egg every day. So I know the eggs are good, but the poor girl just can't get a break! They already have 9 or 10 chicks, and she is still going strong!

Silkies are crazy birds, that's for sure.

 

[Teresaann24]

Silkies will hatch anything!!! I have had them hatch turkeys and ducks and big eggs and little eggs..LOL They will hatch rocks too if you let them..LOL

 

[walbarbsa]

There's just nothing like a brooding silkie for the epitome of chicken hatching/motherhood!

 

[dancingbear]

Are you kidding, a broody hen of any breed rejecting an egg because it's the wrong size?

The best one I ever read about was a broody trying to hatch a plastic dinosaur and a teenage mutant ninja turtle action figure.

Just mark them so you know which ones you set, start them all at the same time, remove new eggs daily.

 

[steve2495]

silkie rejecting an egg. nvr! u can probably get ur roo to sit on eggs too thats how broody silkies can get