Why don't Silkie chickens brood?

AbstractThis is mainly because Silkie chickens are now primarily raised in captivity, and the artificial incubation method used in captive breeding relies on electric incubators, which has eroded the Silkie chicken's natural brooding instinct. The usual incubation period is from March to August; this time frame is optimal, with the highest hatching success rate.

The reason Silkie chickens don't brood is that today's Silkie chickens are basically all raised in captivity. While trying to increase their output, farmers use the fastest and most convenient methods to hatch eggs, and the original method of using hens to incubate is not practical on farms. Nowadays, incubation is basically done through electric incubators, which has reduced the Silkie chicken's natural brooding instinct.

Therefore, Silkie chickens bought from the market will not brood, but if they are raised together with domestic native chickens, they may learn to brood from the native chickens. When a Silkie chicken does brood, if a hen incubates eggs, it can generally only hatch 18 to 20 at a time.

If an electric incubator is used to hatch eggs, incubation is usually carried out from March to August, and the success rate during this time frame is the highest, reaching a 90% hatching success rate. Eggs can also be incubated from September to February of the following year, with a success rate of 80%. Therefore, if you want to buy ready-made young Silkie chicks, you can make the purchase from March to February of the following year, because the output is relatively high at this time, and the chicks are usually a bit cheaper.