Are you my mother?

Silkies are excellent mamas. I once saw them referred to as 'The best mama an egg could ask for'. Isn't that the cutest thing? It's true too. They love to hatch babies. They don't care what time of year, or even what kind of babies. When they go broody they will steal eggs if they have to! You know who make really bad mamas? Guineas. Yup...they're the absolute worst! 

Half the time guinea hens crush the eggs while they're sitting. If the keets do hatch out, mama's short attention span just about guarantees she will lose at least half of them. It's like she just doesn't even hear them peeping their little heads off. Drives me bonkers! I spend all day rushing outside and rounding up her keets for her, then she tries to peck me while I'm giving them back! The nerve!

Actually, there are a lot of breeds that don't do so well at brooding chicks. That's why you need a silkie! This is the story of Zippy the silkie hen who would hatch any egg you gave her and love those babies no matter how they hatched out!

Silkie hens will hatch any egg you give them!

So I've come up with a solution. I let my Silkies raise some guinea babies every year. I take the eggs away from the broody Guineas and give them to the Silkies. They take such good care of those little keets and every single one makes it to full grown with a Silkie mama! Although, they do quickly outgrow mama. It's super cute though.

Not only do the tiny keets do better with a silkie mama, but a broody hen is much easier to care for than a whole brooder set up!

It only takes about 4 weeks until the Guineas are the same size as their Silkie mama. Even after they outgrow her, they still try to snuggle under her wings at bedtime. So cute! Silkies truly are happiest when they have some babies to raise...and it's just the cutest thing to watch!

~L

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