A silkie on 16 fertile eggs found today - mid-November!

[Newbiechickchic]

Bad time to get broody in the Northeast -- we are headed into winter! I somehow missed this nest, and now 13 of them are already developing! She is not big enough to cover 13 babies once they hatch, in fact 3 might be all she could cover cause my frizzle is the same size and still with her 3 that are equal in size but still sleeping with her! So, now I must build a brooder for indoors and keep them in all winter? Kinda freaking out... tried not to let this happen! They won't have full feathers until mid-winter, and by then our nights are likely to be below zero! Suggestions?

 

[Talithahorse]

Are the eggs all silkie eggs? If they are smaller, she might can get more under her. I know sometimes my silkie will try to sit on more than she can. Usually when that happens we get a much smaller hatch because she can't keep all of the eggs under her and some of them get too cool. As far as ideas, the mama brooder which is made with a heating pad comes to mind. (There is a great thread on this but I am not sure how to put in the link for it.) Maybe you can put mama and any babies that hatch. The babies can then get under mama or the heating pad mama for warmth. I live in the south and any chicks we have had hatch in the winter usually do well as mama keeps them warm BUT.... I live in the deep south. Our winters are probably like your spring.

 

[Newbiechickchic]

I will have to search for that post, or that product. Definitely didn't want this task right now.. too much else to do like getting the adult chickens and their coops ready for winter. SIGH! Should I just remove the eggs from her - I mean, something is growing in them, but they probably are still young enough that no pain will be felt.. IDK! Ugh. I'm pretty full of chickens already - 58 I think. I wouldn't mind hatching more in Spring, but not now.

 

[Talithahorse]

I have had to do that a couple of times. When that happens I typically take them out and let them cool for a couple of days. I hate it but sometimes I have to do what is best for the whole flock. Some may disagree. Do what is right for you and yours. Your other option may be to take out all but just what you think she can handle on her own.

 

[21hens-incharge]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

Here is the link to the heating pad brooder.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Great thread! MHP works great, I converted & very happy with results.

 

[Newbiechickchic]

I don't know if any of the eggs are hers, but several are tiny white eggs. I do have several hens young enough to start laying, so it is hard to say. Some could be hers, some could be Hamburg eggs but I haven't seen either of those hens laying any as of yet. I also have a few young EE mixed hens that could be starting to lay. Either way, I will probably never know cause the 3 I hatched in early summer with the Frizzle - well, I still to this day can't figure out who has what genes! I know which one has some EE, I think. She sat on a blue egg, a light brown egg, and a dark egg, but no clue which hen the browns belonged to, nor which rooster fertilized them! lol

So should I plan to keep her and the chicks inside the house?? I can't even imagine that.. how stinky that will get. If I do, I suppose I will separate her from them. But, I suppose I could build a brooder for either the coop or the dirt floor shed we have (10x20, plenty of space). Or, perhaps I will stop their development. I hate that idea.. I can't kill any life form, even if it doesn't feel anything yet.. it still has the power of creation started!

 

[chickens really]

If you can't run heat for the Hen and Chicks in a Brooder outside?...I would stop the development and Break her Broodiness...
Last winter I set up a Brooder in my Garage with a Heat lamp...I set everything up and built a nest then collected the eggs she was on and then put her in the new nursery...I had it set so the feed and water was more under the heat lamp...The Chicks did great...

 

[Newbiechickchic]

I guess she may have resolved this whole issue herself. I moved her and the eggs off the floor into a storage tote nest that had clean litter... this morning she was back on the floor and the eggs were super cold in the nest. Doubt any will develop now.. for the best, I guess, but at least i'm not responsible for killing them. lol

 

[chickens really]

Get her into a Broody breaker...No need to brood now...