broody hens

[zebserema]

i have two hens that are brooding my silkie and my barred plymouth rock the only problem is my silkie will set for almost all day 9 or 10 hours on her egg then get up and leave how do i get her to keep setting i researched and found out that i should leave her eggs their for a few days but im not sure i am sure though that she is brooding she is mean and has lost all her breast fearthers what should i do

 

[AKsmama]

If she's broody, and she's lost her breast feathers, she has plucked a brood patch. They do that to get the eggs right up against their skin- it has something to do with the right temp and humidity. That's normal for a broody. As far as her leaving the egg, I'm not sure what you're saying. Do you mean she sits most of the day and then doesn't sit at night? Or does she get off the eggs for a bit of time and then come back? They usually do get up once or twice a day to eat & drink & poop, maybe take a quick dust bath. If she doesn't sit on them at night, she may be thinking about going broody but isn't quite there yet. Sometimes you can let them build a clutch for a few days and that will push them over the edge, so to speak.

 

[zebserema]

what i mean is she is like mt emergency power outage chicken for my incubator because when i give her the eggs she buisily builds a nest then rolls them all under her after a few hours say 6 or 7 somtimes longer she leaves and wont come back i dont know why