broody silkie? or something else?

[realsis]

hi all. my 8 month old silkie is a very good layer and I get eggs every day to every other day like clockwork. the last two days I've got no eggs and my bird is all fluffed up and sitting on her nest. she is drinking and eating although not as much. she is pooping normally and does not appear to be straining. but she is all puffed up on the nest. I was worried about egg binding so I checked her and I could not feel an egg at all. as a precaution I massaged her abdomen and gave her a calcium shot. still no egg.. she just goes back to her nest and sits on nothing.. the main two symptoms I've noticed are being all fluffed up and stop in production. her vent is clean clear no discharge poop is normal and eyes are bright. no sound when she is breathing although it may be she's breathing slightly heavier than usual. I'll remove her from her nest and she will just go right back to it all puffed up and sit.I offered a snack and put some vitamins in her water and she ate and drank. although not as much as usual. then she puffed back up and went to sit. as I mentioned she does not appear to be straining and walks normally. do you think I have a broody on my hands? or something more serious? other than puffing all up and sitting she appears healthy and bright eyed. I felt and felt but could not feel an egg. what do you think? does she sound broody to you? thanks for reading.

 

[nbenevento]

Sounds broody to me. Hens don't always have to have eggs to sit on to go broody, especially silkies! From what I hear, they go broody if the wind blows the wrong way. In my opinion, she is definitely broody.

 

[nbenevento]

oh and 99% of the time a broody will not lay eggs.

 

[Pinky]

I agree, going back to the nest when taken off is a sure sign of being broody.

 

[realsis]

thank you so much for your replies! she's back on her nest again and all puffed up. I just got concerned because I'm so fearful of her becoming egg bound. but if that was the case I don't think she would be eating walking normally and surely I'd feel an egg? also the shot of calcium would have helped her lay right? and she does not appear to be straining. she's my baby and I guess I just worry. thank you for the replies!

 

[Pinky]

I hear silkies are an extremely broody breed, so I think she should be fine. If she decides to go full broody, she will stay on the nest and not get off for days at a time, but this is normal behavior and nothing to worry about. When she does this is when you can give her fertile eggs if you want her to hatch any chicks. I also heard silkies make excellent mothers too.

 

[realsis]

Thank you. Yes I suspect she is broody. She's still on the nest today
No eggs either! It worried me because I thought she might be egg bound but thank God I think she's only broody. She's all puffed up on her empty nest. Its going on four days now.yep I got a broody little girl for sure!

 

[chickenboy1400]

i have raised silkies for 3 years now. and yes what everyone is saying is true they do like to go broody a lot. this will not be the last time one of your silkies will go broody. what I see in mine is they will sit on and off the nest for about 4 days then they stop egg production and go into that full broody mode. they normally get a little more aggressive because they are trying to protect they're eggs/chicks/nothing. I have a silkie that is broody right now.


do you want her to hatch eggs? they make amazing mothers. if you want her to get up off the nest, and stop being broody then I would put her in an above ground wire cage. this way she will have nothing to make a nest out of and she will stop that broody behavior. this can take anything from a few days to a week. other people say they dunk them in water but I think the wire cage is the nicest way to go. Hope this helps





here is my hen that is broody ATM. this is her with some of her chicks from last year.

 

[realsis]

she is adorable! Here is my girl. Just sitting on her empty nest.egg production stopped completely. So yes do you think she is defiently broody?

 

[realsis]

...

i have raised silkies for 3 years now. and yes what everyone is saying is true they do like to go broody a lot. this will not be the last time one of your silkies will go broody. what I see in mine is they will sit on and off the nest for about 4 days then they stop egg production and go into that full broody mode. they normally get a little more aggressive because they are trying to protect they're eggs/chicks/nothing. I have a silkie that is broody right now. do you want her to hatch eggs? they make amazing mothers. if you want her to get up off the nest, and stop being broody then I would put her in an above ground wire cage. this way she will have nothing to make a nest out of and she will stop that broody behavior. this can take anything from a few days to a week. other people say they dunk them in water but I think the wire cage is the nicest way to go. Hope this helps here is my hen that is broody ATM. this is her with some of her chicks from last year. [/quote. Your girl is adorable! How long did she stay broody for? She's all puffed up just like mine is!