So over the past few days, Cirrus has been in the indoor coop. She has been properly broody for about a week and as broody hens need their own space, I brought her into the house. Cirrus is sitting determinedly although she keeps moving around the coop as if to find the best place. This is all very well until the eggs appear!
The lovely lady who we bought Trixie from is a responsible breeder and I contacted her about hatching eggs for Cirrus. Fortunately, she had half a dozen white Silkie eggs available which we collected this evening. The sixth egg was tiny, more like Cirrus’s own eggs which seemed fitting. When I lifted Cirrus out of the coop, she was not impressed, but in true Silkie style, sat on the carpet refusing to move. In some ways, it made life much easier as I wasn’t having to fend off an irate broody chicken when putting the hatching eggs into the nest. Silver linings and all that.
The problem came when Cirrus squatted on the eggs. Not only could I see four of the eggs, but she wasn’t sitting down properly. Remembering she was an incubator chick, I helped shift the eggs around so that she could sit comfortably and cover most of the eggs. I don’t know if she will have the sense to kick one or two out like the broody hens usually do. But for now, she is fully fluffed out and covering all the eggs. Only time will tell if she will be successful!
It’s always a long and exciting wait for eggs to hatch. I’m hoping she will be a good broody (silkies usually are) but it’s harder for her as she has no personal experience of a broody hen. If nothing hatches, at least she has had a try this year. I suspect that the silkies may need a few practices before they get all the skills they need to be a superb broody hen.
The Good Life Crewe 
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