It's been a long time since I had chicks (my last remaining hens are 15 years old), but there is something about the hen that keeps the chicks healthy. Maybe the chicks aren't as prone to getting sick because their temperatures are more regulated, I don't know. I did know at one time because I read about all this on the chicken forums I belonged to at the time and also in the chicken care books I bought. The chicks pretty much live under or very close to the hen and they never got sick. The chicks raised by the hens always seemed more robust to me. And it's really cute to see the chicks peaking out from the hen's feathers.
Silkie hens make really really good mothers and silkie roosters are the best fathers in the chicken world.
