Wanted Please - Harrogate / York / Leeds area

[LimeChicken57]

I was just wondering about Silkies as I'm getting two new hens soon. I hear they get broody a lot. Will this affect the laying in the other hen (Will the silkie stay in the nesting box for so long the other hen won't be able to lay in it?) and will the Silkie stay in the nesting box for so long it doesn't eat or drink? Thanks for your advice.

[Redwing]

They do go broody a lot yes

 

You'll have to keep turfing them off the nest or they will go without food and drink so you do need to try to 'break' the broodiness

 

The other hen will usually lay elsewhere (roosting bars or in the run for example) but a few will squeeze in beside the Silkie to lay or even lay an egg on top of the broody

[LimeChicken57]

Thanks for your info

[Space Chick]

My lot scream at my Silkie and turf her out when they want to lay

 

My Silkie is a gorgeous girl, is currently deciding to gift us eggs, so no doubt will be broody this time next week

[Griffin]

Tiger Lily is as regular as clockwork Lays 10 eggs then goes broody

 

I have two Silkie hens, both are broody right now. If you want a regular supply of eggs, don't buy a Silkie.

[Lewis]

Lewis has a silkie.

Lewis wants a broody.

 

Silkie isn't broody

... although the other hen has been sitting in an egg all day!

[half dozen]

Lewis get a cochin!!! Ive got two broody at the same time......giving Willow a turn at motherhood this year

[coco]

I've got two Silkie crosses who are both broody at the moment. The other hens still manage to lay in the nest box.I turf the broodies out twice a day otherwise they wouldn't eat or drink. They aren't overly bright either but we love them anyway.

[LimeChicken57]

Done a bit more research I don't think I'll be getting Silkies maybe when I'm a bit more experienced with chickens. Thanks for all your advice

Edited April 22, 2010 by Guest

[Guest]

In my experience you dont need to kick the chickens out it just makes them angry let her come out on her own accord when your not there she will come out dont pressure her when she wants it she will get it. If you kick her out your just going against nature.

[sparkysmum]

Sparkysmum wants a silke, Hazie wants a silkie, we can't have silkies - too wet & cold

[redfrock]

I love our Silkie and eventually plan on getting quite a few more. None of the other hens have ever given her grief and she integrated better than anybody (and we have just completed our 5th integration!!!). She is broody one hell of a lot though, no matter what the time of year! When she does lay though she bangs out one a day without fail. She is far more sensible than our hybrid broodies - she gets herself up to eat, drink and do the huge stinky poos that broodies are so good at at least twice a day. It is our hybrids that we have to force off to eat and drink

[Redwing]

In my experience you dont need to kick the chickens out it just makes them angry let her come out on her own accord when your not there she will come out dont pressure her when she wants it she will get it. If you kick her out your just going against nature.

 

To be fair - nature would be that she sits on eggs until they hatch

 

In real life broody-land hens may well will sit and sit and sit for those eggs to hatch even if she doesnt have any! if you dont break her she may lose enough weight to die

 

They need to be 'broken' for their own welfare

 

Youre right in that some will quickly give up but many wont

[Guest]

In my experience you dont need to kick the chickens out it just makes them angry let her come out on her own accord when your not there she will come out dont pressure her when she wants it she will get it. If you kick her out your just going against nature.

 

To be fair - nature would be that she sits on eggs until they hatch

 

In real life broody-land hens may well will sit and sit and sit for those eggs to hatch even if she doesnt have any! if you dont break her she may lose enough weight to die

 

They need to be 'broken' for their own welfare

 

Youre right in that some will quickly give up but many wont

 

Just because we keep animals does not mean we need to break nature animals come out when they are hungry! If they lose weight animals build it back up and you can help that!

 

You dont go around pushing birds out of their nests do you!

 

I also dont think picking chickens up for other than medical options is a good thing because you dont go round picking up wild animals and ytes i know their pets but their not toys!

 

And how do you take that real life isnt nature when it is because we live in nature it is all around us!

[Space Chick]

In my experience you dont need to kick the chickens out it just makes them angry let her come out on her own accord when your not there she will come out dont pressure her when she wants it she will get it. If you kick her out your just going against nature.

 

To be fair - nature would be that she sits on eggs until they hatch

 

In real life broody-land hens may well will sit and sit and sit for those eggs to hatch even if she doesnt have any! if you dont break her she may lose enough weight to die

 

They need to be 'broken' for their own welfare

 

Youre right in that some will quickly give up but many wont

 

I agree with Redwing. I had a persistent broody who was broody for 7 weeks solid ie. virtually twice the time it would take to hatch chickens, she lost a lot of condition, and needed some serious TLC to build her back up.

 

The broody cage is the kindest way forward IMHO.

[Plum]

To be fair it's not natural to keep chickens in coops and runs and I guess while we do that we have to keep their interests at heart and give them the best life we can. Which means keeping them healthy, taking an interest in their welfare and caring about what happens with them.

I haven't had a broody hen yet but I know that because it's well impossible to hatch from mine I would break their broodiness for their welfare. But I also know I would feel guilty for the reasons you say.

[Egluntyne]

It really isn't in a hen's best interests to be left to brood unless eggs have been set under her, because the cycle isn't completed by the rearing of the chicks.

 

A broody hen will lose condition, become very thin and anaemic and will be a magnet for lice and mites, so in my opinion it is very poor management to just leave them to it.

 

Wild birds don't need turfing off their nests because they are actually getting on with the task of hatching and rearing chicks.

[Redwing]

Yes nature is all around us but modern chickens are domesticated and 'manufactured' your bantams dont exist 'in the wild' they lead the life of a domesticated animal in as natural environment as the owner cares to make for them

 

A broody chicken often will not get off the nest to eat unless we hook them off, like I said in an ideal world the chicken sits on the eggs until they hatch then as you say they get their condition back but if you dont give them eggs to hatch they dont know when three weeks is up - some will sit for weeks on end

[Woodcat]

I also dont think picking chickens up for other than medical options is a good thing because you dont go round picking up wild animals and ytes i know their pets but their not toys!

 

On that basis none of us should cuddle our cats or dogs or hamsters. Chickens are pets and in quite a few cases quite enjoy being picked up. Equally if you only ever pick chickens up for medical reasons you will stress them terribly when you do pick them up and have to force antibiotics down their beaks or clip their claws or clean their feet. They flap around get upset and generally make your life harder. In comparison if you handle them regularly then these very important health checks etc are not as stressful and are easier to do and therefore you are more likely to get them right. My chickens are pets not wild animals and as such are treated as pets. However i do not treat them as toys and will never allow anyone to treat them as such, there is a very clear difference!

 

Back on the main topic i adore silkies and desperately want one but somehow as these things go i've never acquired one i have met several including Redfrocks girly and she was utterly georgous and i still desperatly want one but have no more room

[Guest]

I also dont think picking chickens up for other than medical options is a good thing because you dont go round picking up wild animals and ytes i know their pets but their not toys!

 

On that basis none of us should cuddle our cats or dogs or hamsters. Chickens are pets and in quite a few cases quite enjoy being picked up. Equally if you only ever pick chickens up for medical reasons you will stress them terribly when you do pick them up and have to force antibiotics down their beaks or clip their claws or clean their feet. They flap around get upset and generally make your life harder. In comparison if you handle them regularly then these very important health checks etc are not as stressful and are easier to do and therefore you are more likely to get them right. My chickens are pets not wild animals and as such are treated as pets. However i do not treat them as toys and will never allow anyone to treat them as such, there is a very clear difference!

 

Back on the main topic i adore silkies and desperately want one but somehow as these things go i've never acquired one i have met several including Redfrocks girly and she was utterly georgous and i still desperatly want one but have no more room

 

 

Im lucky ernough to be in an area where we dont have to use anitbiotics and i dont think i would anyway i prefer herbal remedies for animals they shouldnt thrive on anitbiotics their whole lives if you have to keep it alive by that nature will tkae its course if it lives it lives if it doesn't it doesn't. My chickens are pets but they also trust me when i pic them up for medical checks as do my other animals. One of mine yes is scared but that is only because she reffers to me because of my Doberman where the other wants to be picked up and because of my beliefs in outside animals i dont tend to pick her up. If my family want a cuddle or friends who come i let them but if the chicken wants to go down she goes down. I also dont clip their wings because they are comfortable in our graden so they dont fly away.

 

I have had enough experience with animals that i can calm them down when something is needed to be done. Yes I am only 15 but I have had animals around me since i was a baby. I have members of families with farms where i helped birth lamb, sort chickens out etc. I except everyone has their own opinion and i was voicing mine. I dont feel picking them up for 'fun' is the best thing because what you might think fun might be horrible for the chickens. If they stay on your lap fine. But no one can tell what animals feel.

[Space Chick]

Im lucky ernough to be in an area where we dont have to use anitbiotics and i dont think i would anyway i prefer herbal remedies for animals

 

Whilst I respect you views, I do have to say that the area you live is not a pre-cursor to needing antibiotics. For example, your chickens could get a respiratory infection wherever you live; town or country, north or south.

 

I do use herbal remedies as a first port of call, but would continue to antibiotics if the illness called for it.

 

I know I would rather give my girls a course of antibiotics and have them as my very loved pets for longer, rather than let them die of something which could be easily cured with the right treatment.

[Guest]

Im lucky ernough to be in an area where we dont have to use anitbiotics and i dont think i would anyway i prefer herbal remedies for animals

 

Whilst I respect you views, I do have to say that the area you live is not a pre-cursor to needing antibiotics. For example, your chickens could get a respiratory infection wherever you live; town or country, north or south.

 

I do use herbal remedies as a first port of call, but would continue to antibiotics if the illness called for it.

 

I know I would rather give my girls a course of antibiotics and have them as my very loved pets for longer, rather than let them die of something which could be easily cured with the right treatment.

 

Im not trying to sound like a bad owner i treat my chickens with intensive care because i love my animals. I get new toys built for them all the time to enrich them so they dont get bored and i change their toys so it isnt boring and they have the garden everyday. They are now even getting half the dog run and the dog is moving to a different side of the house.

 

I dont want people thinking of me as someone who doesnt care for animals properly but in my experiences with animals and antibiotics just hasnt been good. I lost 3 dogs because all different vets gave us the wrong antibiotics and doses so I just dont trust it.

 

I am always going to look after my girls but they are just raised differently to what everyone else does but i also think the reason why i treat them like i do with their raising is because it has just been in my family for generations that I feel it should just stay that way.

 

I did go to our friends house who breed hens today and they have a very tame black orpington hen and I must say having a cuddle with her was nice but it felt uncomfortable if people get what I mean. I didnt mean any offense to anyone on here in the way they raise their chickens. I just like my chickens running around wild because i have also seen chickens that dont have any natural instincts at all because they were raised with constant cuddling so they didnt dig around or search for food.

 

Right now im watching my 2 girls taking a dustbath and i am thinking wouldnt it be nice if they came to me and sat near me thinking of how you guys have it and how it must be nice but then i am also thinking would it be good if i do that because i think i would do something wrong with them.

 

I have seen pictures of your chickens and them sitting with you and you holding them and there amazing the trust they have with you.

 

Thanks but I dont think I will be using this anymore I feel I have upset people and I am thinking seriously of rehoming my hens with our friends who will hold them.

[Chucky Mama]

I actually think that staying as a forum member would be a really positive thing for you. Being different doesn't mean that you are wrong. People that visit and post on this forum will have wildly different ideas on raising chickens and it is very interesting getting different perspectives. I admire your wish to keep your chickens in as natural an environment as possible. However, I sense that you would also love to be able to have closer contact with them. It is fine to mix and match different ways of looking after chickens to suit your own and your own chickens needs. Remember, these are not wild animals, we have domesticated them and as a result of this evolution they will have developed issues and conditions that do will need our intervention such as when they become broody. Stick with us, you may learn something and you may teach us something too. We love a healthy well mannered debate

 

p.s Sorry LimeChicken - your post has been hijacked, I hope that your initial question has been answered

[Plum]

Don't go away stay and chat. There are lots of people on here who don't pick their hens up much but enjoy seeing them enjoy life and watching them interact with eachother. I bet you are a really good chicken owner and you obviously care about them. Why not post some pics and some of silkies if you have them? Sorry can't remember

 

Sorry just seen your sig. Love their names

[Guest]

I have tried everyones advice and picked both the hens up but they just absolutly hated it I tried all day and they were flapping and stuff so I will try but I dont feel comfortable

 

And this was really weird but we were talking about hens being broody and guess what.... betty and bob went broody yesterday. Joy so no more eggs until they come out of it.

 

And well happy parents said once their area is done im allowed 2 orpington bantam girls and 2 buff brahma bantams

 

I also am having the vet come out this week to just give a check up.