Orphans

Date sort Score sort
blacksilkie

blacksilkie

Chirping
10 Years
Nov 10, 2009
41
6
87
I found one of my Silkie Hens killed today. She had 4 6 week old chicks. Now they have no mom and it's going down to 15 degrees tonight. I brought them in but wondering if they would make it outside with no hen? They are feathered out pretty good. Am I overreacting? How long until they can take the cold? The Chicks are Salmon Favorelles.
 
I would definitely keep them inside, at least until the weather warms up. They can't handle below freezing temperatures for at least a couple more weeks. If you must keep them outside, put a heat lamp in the coop.
 
blacksilkie said:
I found one of my Silkie Hens killed today. She had 4 6 week old chicks. Now they have no mom and it's going down to 15 degrees tonight. I brought them in but wondering if they would make it outside with no hen? They are feathered out pretty good. Am I overreacting? How long until they can take the cold? The Chicks are Salmon Favorelles.
Click to expand...

Keep them inside for a bit. A cooler garage or basement would be best. In a few weeks (not sure where you live) you can start putting them out on warm days. You might want to research the Mama Heating Pad in this forum and see if that is something you can use.
 
I'm going to take a different tack here. You had a Silkie hen, and 6 week old large fowl chicks. I'm thinking they weren't fitting under her very well at this point. My little hens don't cover their large babies well at this age, anyway. The chicks still try to crowd under and do the huddle, but there are chick parts sticking out all over the place.

I think they'd be fine with a huddle box and each other to keep warm. I really don't think they were getting much from momma at this point anyway.
 
Hi, I am in NZ and have mine pretty much free range at 6 weeks if it isn't too cold, I do make sure they all go into the house at night. Sounds cool there but if they have plenty of feathers they should be ok. The hen raised ones spend way more time out than I would've thought, they also do fine. Hope it works out for you
 
Last edited:
Thanks, that is what I was looking for. They are in now, I'll keep them in until it gets above freezing in a couple days. Then they can go back in their Tractor. I wanted to make sure they were big enough to keep each other warm. It looks like they have almost doubled in size in two days.
 
Thanks, that is what I was looking for. They are in now, I'll keep them in until it gets above freezing in a couple days. Then they can go back in their Tractor. I wanted to make sure they were big enough to keep each other warm. It looks like they have almost doubled in size in two days.
 

Similar threads

RiccardoR
    • Like
New chicks - they went out by themselves!
Replies
4
Views
149
Perris
Perris
K
First night in the coop
2
Replies
19
Views
884
KayChickMom29
K
Tatootles
    • Sad
    • Like
    • Love
Mom died by Hawk, left me nine orphan babies
3 4 5
Replies
47
Views
4K
McChooky
McChooky
HollyParks
Silky Sexing
Replies
6
Views
905
GirlsHuntToo
GirlsHuntToo
S
When to mix w/ rooster?
Replies
2
Views
304
Lolemar22
Lolemar22

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom