Remudamom Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Have any of you ever let a hen go broody? I want my silkies to set some eggs, how do I do it? Just leave them be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Are they new layers? It can take some time before the broody instinct kicks in with new layers. Silkies are supposed to be good setting hens, though, so maybe you just need to give them some time. Good luck! ETA: Love that Avatar! What a great movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Yes, leave them to it. It is helpful if you can keep the other layers somewhere else otherwise Ms Broody will collect up all the eggs. If that's not possible, you'll want to mark hers in some way. I'd rather keep the others out though or you'll need thick gloves. She won't take kindly to you doing an egg census! Consider how safe the area will be for new chicks too. I never managed to raise any of mine, they either got out through tiny holes I didn't know about or drowned in the water bowl. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesmama3 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Just wondering.....what do broody and silkies mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I am new to chickens, but I believe going broody means sitting on their eggs to hatch them and silkies are an ornamental type of chicken. Correct me if I am wrong. Michelle By the way, I just ordered my first set of chicks yesterday and should get them in a couple of weeks. You can see what I ordered if you visit my blog below. Please visit!!! I am so excited!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Just wondering.....what do broody and silkies mean? LOL. Michelle has this right. Silkies are an ornamental type chicken. And "broody" is a very interesting state of being that a hen enters when she is ready to reproduce by sitting on eggs. The hens behavior changes notably, she'll start cooing, and puffing up her feathers and acting (dare I say it on this forum?) "hormonal". And at this broody stage a hen will sit on eggs until they hatch, come what may. I've only raised Rhode Island Red bantams. This breed has its natural instincts intact (one reason I favor them) so the hens go broody easily and all one has to do is provide food and shelter and stay out of their way. We've never had any problems hatching out a clutch with mothern hen doing all the work. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Just wondering.....what do broody and silkies mean? Broody as in clucky, and we know you know what clucky means or you wouldn't be here! :) I agree bantams are good if you want to raise chicks. Very motherly when they're in that frame of mind. My half bantam went broody very regularly in the couple of years I had poultry and only one of my chooks ever did and that was only once. As far as I know, silkies have a short laying season. Would that mean they'd go broody even more infrequently? :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 But do I leave the eggs as she lays them or gather them up and keep somehow and then set them all out? Can I put her in a big dog kennel? I can't mark the eggs with a marker, correct? A pencil? How many should I let her set? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julesmama3 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I apologize for my ignorance in raising chickens but I'm gonna ask dumb questions anyway. So, the chicken gets broody only occasionally? Sometimes she'll lay eggs and not care if someone wants to take them? Here's a really dumb one...is every laid(layed) egg fertilized?:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Eggs are only fertilized if the hen has been bred. They'll lay eggs whether or not there is a roo around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I don't know how often chickens get broody, but they are not like that all the time. Also, the only time a hen can hatch a chick is if a rooster is around to fertilize the eggs. Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl in NM Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 But do I leave the eggs as she lays them or gather them up and keep somehow and then set them all out? Can I put her in a big dog kennel? I can't mark the eggs with a marker, correct? A pencil? How many should I let her set? I'd collect the eggs and eat them until she goes broody. Then if you want to, let her hatch them. You can use a grease pencil on eggs. A dog kennel won't keep the baby chicks in, but you could line the bottom 2 feet with chicken wire offset to the dog wire. They shouldn't get out of that. Also make sure your dog kennel has a roof or you'll just be feeding predatory birds. You will need to provide "indoors" for mama hen and chicks. Have you ever been to http://www.backyardchickens.com? They have a forum that's pretty helpful. I apologize for my ignorance in raising chickens but I'm gonna ask dumb questions anyway. So, the chicken gets broody only occasionally? Sometimes she'll lay eggs and not care if someone wants to take them? Here's a really dumb one...is every laid(layed) egg fertilized?:001_huh: I haven't had broody chickens yet as we've only had Rhode Island Reds and the broodiness has been bred out of them. This year I have some Buff Orphingons and Silver Laced Wyandottes. Those breeds still go broody. I thought hens only go broody once a year though so most of the time she lays an egg and goes about her business. Every egg is not fertilized. If you have a rooster in your flock there's a good chance most eggs are fertilized, but it's still not guaranteed. It's okay to eat fertilized eggs. You'd never the tell the difference in taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I haven't had broody chickens yet as we've only had Rhode Island Reds and the broodiness has been bred out of them. From what I understand there are different lines of Rhode Islands Reds with more recent out crossings, called "production" lines because they maximize egg-production at the expense of natural virtues (or vices depending on how you look at it) such as "broodyness". We have gone to great lengths to get classic Rhode Island Reds (and not production birds) and they go broody quite easily. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I can't wait for our oldest hen, a Buff Orpington, to go broody! :001_smile: She only started laying in January, lol, but when it warms up and she is a bit older, we will let her lay a complete clutch and see what happens. There are some people down the road from us who have some kind of Polish? (you know the ones with the leg warmers, hehe) and they have a hen who hatched 3 clutches last year. Busy gal! Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 But do I leave the eggs as she lays them or gather them up and keep somehow and then set them all out? Can I put her in a big dog kennel? I can't mark the eggs with a marker, correct? A pencil? How many should I let her set? Check out post #5 in this thread (from Backyard Chickens): http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=124941 There's a guy who said he's successfully made hens go broody. You could use the dog crate, maybe covered with a blanket. As for numbers, I'd probably start with 5-6. Not sure what that magic number is that makes them go, "Hey! It's a clutch!" but I think that's a good place to start.:lol: And yes, pencil will do. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browneyedgirl Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I was reading this post and wanted to reccommend a book to everyone. IT is "Barnyard in your Backyard". It is super book with a wealth of information on many animals people want to raise for food. Goats, both for meat and dairy, cows, chicken, rabbits, etc. With info on breeding, housing, feeding, sickness, etc. A must to own if you do any of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Some don't ever get the broody instinct. You just have to leave them to it. Of course... don't collect all the eggs either, or they won't have anything to set. I usually leave one or two laying boxes uncollected and they go for it, but I have about half of my hens that are more mature. Young ones don't seem to brood much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 But do I leave the eggs as she lays them or gather them up and keep somehow and then set them all out? Can I put her in a big dog kennel? I can't mark the eggs with a marker, correct? A pencil? How many should I let her set? We have never marked our eggs, but have only had one breed (Rhode Island Red bantams) so there hasn't been an issue and we've preferred the inclusion of eggs from different hens to keep the gene-pool of the flock as wide as possible given it's closed nature. We have also have just let the hen hatch out the eggs where they are laid, that being in one of three nest boxes are built into our coop. The coop is very secure, and with RIR bantams at least, their has been no molestation of either the broody hen or the hatched chicks by other chickens in the coop. I don't know if this is good practice with other breeds (or not) as RIRs are particularly gentle. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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