Broodytime

I usually tell people who are thinking about getting Silkies: take what you think is a lot of broodiness, and multiply it by ten. Seriously, it's true!

It's rare for my nest boxes to be empty for weeks. It's even rarer to see all ten of my Silkies together at the same time—at least one is always broody.

All you need is a good strategy to break them if necessary, and a consistent routine to handle them while they're broody so they stay healthy.

How to recognize a broody hen

Your hen will show several clear signs:

• She'll get moody, with a variety of growls—both low and high.

• She may do what I call dragon stance, lowering her neck and spreading her wings to make herself look bigger.

• She might pick up straw, leaves, or even other random objects and lay them on her back.

• The most obvious sign: she will cluck constantly.

Sometimes, I've thought a hen was broody, but she was just grumpy from being disturbed while laying. To tell the difference, look for these behaviors:

• She'll go into pancake mode, basically flattening herself against the nest.

• When you pet her, she'll give a very different growl and tuck her head almost against her belly, fluffing herself up to appear bigger.

Broody cycle

The frequency of broodiness varies from hen to hen, but on average:

• About every three months, a Silkie may go broody.

• She will typically stay broody for about 21 days.

• After that, she'll take a break from laying eggs for 2–8 weeks.

• Then she may lay eggs for 2–4 weeks before going broody again.

With a good routine and understanding of their behavior, you can keep your Silkies healthy and happy—even during their frequent broody phases.

My experience: I've started to notice the early signs when a hen is about to go broody. So when a fluffy ball settles in the nest boxes, I'm not surprised.

To keep things as natural as possible for them—but without hatching chicks—I mark 21 days on the calendar, which is how long it takes a chick to hatch. On day 22, I start breaking them from their broodiness.

For most of my hens, it's enough just to close the hatch to the coop (it's really important to make sure every hen who is laying has actually laid!). If I need to leave them alone, I use my version of broody jail, where I split the coop into two sections. For most hens, this process takes 1–3 days before their broody hormones settle down.

Some hens are more stubborn. My paint hen, Bartok, is almost impossible to break. For her, simply closing the hatch isn't enough—you need to separate her from the nest entirely. The most effective method for her is broody jail, which usually takes 5–7 days before she gives up.