- Oct 23, 2015
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This is the first year for raising chickens. I started out with 4 babies, on of which turned out to be a rooster! Needless to say one of my hens went broody and hatched 10 little chicks on Sept. 21. I would have taken her hidden eggs away if I could have gotten to them!!! Anyway, we put the hen and her new little bundles of love in a separate pen. Mom has the ability to get into one of the hen houses but she chooses to lay on a bed of straw on the ground with her babies snuggled under her. The temperature here in Eastern WA is dropping with our first heavy frost just 2 days ago. The chicks are now well over 1 month old and they all barely fit under Mom. I'm concerned about the time the hen decides to not be a Mom any more and here these little guys are without her for warmth. I guess I'll just have to round them up and put them in the separate hen house and close the door at night. Hopefully they will get the idea and start using the hen house. Any other ideas out there on what would work for these chicks?