[bastonjock]

My beautifull little silkie has decided to become a mum,she is sitting on about a dozen eggs,tow eggs are her own and the rest belong to the others. It looks like one cockerell has put his claim to her,he is a spotted sussex,so i expect the eggs to be a mix of warrens,spotted sussex,bluebell,RIR,light sussex and silkie.

The silkie started sitting on the eggs last weekend and i she has added to her collection over about 4 days,i have now isolated her from the rest of the gang with the exception of the spotted sussex who i let into her coup every night.

Ive read that the eggs will take about 21 days to incubate and that the silkie will do her best to look after her babys,but what about the cockerell? will he stand sentinel over them or will he beat them up,im hoping that he will guard them as there are cats in the area.

and when do i start giving them chick crumbs?

[pekinpete]

am i right in thinking that she didn't start sitting on eggs all at the same time the only trouble is when early ones hatch she might leave others perhaps other members will disagree with my answer i think at least 4 extra days for hen to carry on sitting on eggs when she has chicks already hatch seems a long time might be ok in incubator but not under hen, i start feeding chick crumbs from the start

[bastonjock]

ill grab a sack of chick crumbs this weekend,do i need a special feeder and drinker? i have the standard ones.

[Casey76]

Is your silkie a bantam or large fowl? 12 eggs is a lot for anything other than a giant breed to sit on, and there is a chance none of them will hatch, because the ones on the edges will be chilled.

I'd recommend to reduce the number down to 7 (odd numbers are better than even numbers)

You will need a dedicated chick feeder and waterer, - this is more important for the water, as baby chicks can drown very easily, even in a couple of mm of water.

If the silkie is a first time mum, I'd be very careful at hatching time in case she kills the chicks as they hatch.  You also have to be careful and ensure the chicks down get entangled in her leg feathers and suffocate.

The eggs should start ti hatch about 21 days after the last one was layed.

Do you know what you will do with all of the cockerels which will hatch?

[bastonjock]

I already have two cockerells so any new ones will be for the pot.

[Sassy]

The cockerel may attack the chicks when they hatch. She will be better isolated from the others but, if possible, so they can still see each other - that way when she is ready to go to the flock they will know her. Good luck