Select fertile eggs from quality and healthy Silkie hens and roosters.
Distinctive bantam chickens with fluffy, silky, hair-like feathers, Silkies usually have black or white feathers with black skin. However, they also may be a blue, red, buff or partridge color. Silkies have a crest on their head and five toes. They lay small, buff-colored eggs. Silkie hens are very broody, which means they sit on eggs and make excellent mothers. Silkie eggs are hatched by the hen or in an incubator. The eggs require 21 days to hatch.
Instructions
1. Place a healthy Silkie rooster in a pen with up to eight Silkie hens two weeks before collecting eggs to hatch. Two weeks ensures the eggs will be fertile. Collect the clean eggs soon after they are laid and store at a 50 to 60 degree temperature for no more than seven to 10 days. Fertile eggs may also be purchased from Silkie breeders.
2. Fill an incubator with the desired number of normal-shape fertile Silkie eggs. Follow the incubator instructions to maintain the desired temperature and humidity. Use a pencil to place an "X" on each egg and rotate the eggs 90 to 180 degrees two to three times per day or use an automatic egg turner.
3. Candle the Silkie eggs four or more days after the start of incubation. Use a commercial candler or a bright light in a box. Hold the egg to a small hole in the box and look for a reddish spider-like body inside the egg. This shape means the embryo is developing normally.
4. Prepare a dry and dark nest area for a broody Silkie hen. A broody hen will lay up to a dozen eggs and sit on the eggs. Or, newly collected eggs from other Silkie hens can be placed under the setting hen. House the hen and the nest in a pen separate from other chickens. Provide fresh food and clean water for the hen.
5. Prepare a brooder for the newly hatched Silkie chicks or allow the hen to care for them. A brooder provides heat, often in the form of a heat lamp, for chicks up to six weeks of age. The chicks require chick starter feed and clean, fresh water in a suitable waterer. Silkie chicks are tiny and the waterer must be a small, suitable size to prevent drowning.
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