[taximan]

my silkie has gone broody i think. she sits in nest box all the time for about the last five days now. have noticednow when i throw her out the other birds attack her. she is head down bum up and chuntering all the time when i throw her out and then she goes back in nest box. whats the remedy please. im at a loss

[Aunt Sally]

I'm afraid broodiness is in a Silkies job description 

[taximan]

yes but what do i do with her just leave her or something else.

[taximan]

i could get some fertile eggs from where i bougyt my banties but thats a whole new ball game,never done that before.

[Aunt Sally]

That's what she would like

[taximan]

but aunt sally, i have 4 hybrids and 6 banties.the hybrids like their own coop at bottom of garden, and banties like their shed on patio.all lay in each others nest boxes, but sleep in own houses. all freerange in garden all day. thought you had to keep chicks seperate,plus dont want cockerels as i live in the middle of a council estate.

[Aunt Sally]

Well no chicks for your silkie then.

How long has she been broodie ?

[taximan]

spprox 5 days

[Aunt Sally]

There will be other chicken keepers along soon to advise you taximan 

[joyfull]

I find the best way to break a broody is to put them in a dog cage and leave her in that with food and water for a couple of days (shelter them from rain though), works everytime for me 

[joyfull]

here is a copy of my how to deal with a broody list 


You cant stop them going broody but there are several ways to deal with it.
1) let them have fertile eggs,
2) keep removing the eggs so she is sitting on nothing - can take weeks,
3) keep removing her from the nest box - again can take weeks,
4) put her in a cage with food and water - can take between 1 and 7 days,
5) dunk her bum in a bucket of cold water - this lowers her body temperature - not tried this method but she may need several dunkings (just make sure she dries off though).
So far I have tried methods 1 and 4 - much prefer method 1 though 

[Chookiechook]

I had two silkies broody a couple of weeks ago.... I would really rather they laid me some eggs than sit on fresh air, so shut the door the the place they considered their nest.

They didnt go anywhere else and are now back to normal

Might not work but there are plenty of other places they could have sat ... so worked for me