Broody in Michigan Winter?

[aart]

Well, we had an all day blizzard yesterday, howling winds and 6-8" of snow, followed by a cold snap. Everyone is alive and seemingly well.

I started feeding the chicks a very wet mash yesterday every 3-4 hours to get them used to it and find the best container. Wanted to make sure they got enough food and especially enough water to make it thru the cold snap, as they can't be dilly-dallying around outside the nest when it's that cold.

Temps in the coop went down to a low -3F about 8am this morning, tho thankfully got up to 20F this afternoon thanks to a strong sun and all 7 were active out of the nest bopping around their coop. I continued bringing out the very wet mash, and a thawed waterer, 4-5 times today and all seem to be doing alright. I am amazed at them.

Tonite is forecast to be even a bit colder, reaching -7F around 6am tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be warming up but not as sunny.
Broody mama is doing a great job keeping them warm and I've done my best to make sure they got plenty of food and hydration......but I will be relieved to hear cheeping in the coop and warmer temps the next few days.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

All sounds well and good management on your part so far aart.

What has always been amazing to me is how hardy healthy chicks are. Those that think they're fragile just haven't seen them exposed to extremes.

Once I had a broody hatch chicks in a nest that was almost 2 ft. above the floor and when they left the nest I went about gathering materials to build a ramp. By the time I got back, the chicks had all jumped back in the nest.

On a couple occasions, I've had young chicks escape into the woods at dusk when it was quite cold out. I expected to lose them to cold and predators but they just hunker down in the leaf litter and return in the morning peeping for mom.

 

[aart]

Well, the temps did not drop as low as forecast, but just barley dipped below 0F and it's up to 10F at 11am.

But...found 1 dead chick in the nest early this morning, seemed to be in rigor tho mama kept it warm so no telling when it died. Hard to know just what caused it's demise, it's neck was awfully floppy, so maybe mama stepped on it and broke it's neck. Didn't have the heart to autopsy, if that would even show me the cause. Chalked it up to fate.

The remaining 6 are active and gobbling down the wet mash I'm still taking out every couple hours along with thawed waterer and they have dry crumble too.

Time will tell how the rest of the story will go....I'm kind of regretting letting the broody set and will not do it again in these conditions. Sure, they can keep eggs warm enough to hatch, but the cold inhibiting both mama and chicks' movements and development is not ideal, to say the least.

Next 10 days shows a temp range of -6F to 24F with more snow....it's gonna be a grind.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, I agree with you. It's getting colder this week than our long range forecast had predicted a few weeks ago. Long range forecast didn't show anything below 0 the rest of the winter but a couple nights from now it's getting to -5.

Do you have electric in the coop? When I had a broody with chicks in the coop near those temps, I hung a 150 watt ceramic heat emitter in one of those reflector hoods over the water and food station so they had two places to keep warm, one under the hen in the nest and another at the feed. Didn't hurt the hen or chicks to have an additional warm spot by the food.

A friend of mine broods her chicks on a floor of chick starter rather than bedding with a feeder. Perhaps you could put down a large tray of some kind and fill it with feed.

When you end up integrating, make sure only starter/grower is available.
You could use grower for everyone and put some starter in something only the chicks can fit in.

 

[mmclaughlin]

Well, the temps did not drop as low as forecast, but just barley dipped below 0F and it's up to 10F at 11am.

But...found 1 dead chick in the nest early this morning, seemed to be in rigor tho mama kept it warm so no telling when it died. Hard to know just what caused it's demise, it's neck was awfully floppy, so maybe mama stepped on it and broke it's neck. Didn't have the heart to autopsy, if that would even show me the cause. Chalked it up to fate.

The remaining 6 are active and gobbling down the wet mash I'm still taking out every couple hours along with thawed waterer and they have dry crumble too.

Time will tell how the rest of the story will go....I'm kind of regretting letting the broody set and will not do it again in these conditions. Sure, they can keep eggs warm enough to hatch, but the cold inhibiting both mama and chicks' movements and development is not ideal, to say the least.

Next 10 days shows a temp range of -6F to 24F with more snow....it's gonna be a grind.

Just for a while could you move mama and chick to a garage or basement?? if only through this cold snap?
days are getting longer and the sun is higher (if it ever comes out again LOL)
just want to help mama keep those precious babies warm

 

[aart]

I use flock raiser for everyone, so that's not a problem, I run it thru the blender for the chicks. Been giving the chicks a tad of egg yolk too.

I have one extension heavy duty cord going out to the coop, for the main water heater and a winter light/timer.......
......won't add anything more to the circuit or more cords as I'm fire paranoid.

Water freezing is the big problem, just gonna take multiple trips a day....which really isn't problem because I'm home 95% of the time.

Moving them anywhere is not in the cards, for various reasons.

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

Sorry for the loss, but it sounds like everyone else is managing well. I ending up bringing my broody inside yesterday, she's enjoying a extra large dog crate in my basement. A huge fight erupted in the coop Saturday. I think her cage was taking up too much space, especially with the cold. Today is day 17, so far she's three for three and my incubator has slowly whittled down to three eggs as well.

 

[aart]

All is well in the broody coop today...all 6 chickies, and mama too, coming off nest much more now that temps have risen.

A balmy 23F in the coop today allowed me to stop with the wet mash (except for first thing in the morning) as they are gobbling the dry mash and the waterers are staying thawed for much longer. Their little crops are bulging and there's tiny turds all over. I checked all their little poopers for any problems and all look good and clear. Neither they nor mama seems to mind me handling them....and who can resist holding a tiny chick??

Supposed to be real mild this weekend, high of 31 on Saturday - which is the 2 week mark, so I think I'll take the partition wall down (Gulp!)
I'm a little nervous, hopefully mama will protect them well and none of the flock goes homicidal.
But it will be interesting too....yet another chapter in my learning curve of chicken keeping.
I've got some plans for a creep feeder area for the chicks.

 

[bill mears321]

I would love to know the result of your mid-winter trial. It would be fascinating to see you get a hatch. Regards Bill

 

[aart]

I would love to know the result of your mid-winter trial. It would be fascinating to see you get a hatch. Regards Bill

@bill mears321 if you read the whole thread, you'll see 7 hatched but 1 died.
Welcome to BYC.