One of my silkie eggs hatched this morning. So far, the buff orpington "mom" seems to be doing a good job mothering the baby while also still sitting on the 3 eggs that have yet to hatch.
However, I just went out to the coop and the baby chick was asleep on the floor outside of the nest box. The hen didn't seem to notice (maybe because it's dark?) and wasn't doing anything to get the chick back under her.
I put the chick back in the nest and when I checked back a few minutes later, the chick was back under the hen.
My question is- should I put a heat lamp over the nest tonight in case this happens again? Would the heat lamp be too warm for the hen? It should get down to ~50 degrees F tonight, I think.
Thank you!
Becky
