Am I wishing for something that isn’t possible?

[Debbie292d]

I never had problems with broodies rejecting their chicks. And I have been reading silkies are good mothers too. But …

I hadn’t thought about very cold weather and didn’t look for your location until now.

Canada! What is the temp in March where you live shortly after sunrise? Im afraid it’s too early in the year for young chicks to walk around outside even with a good mother hen.

This makes a brooder with chicks inside the house probably a much safer option.

Silkies are good mothers, for about 6 weeks. They aren't even fully feathered yet.

Our brooder(s) are in the house. When they (silkies) get two months old or so in the winter, then we can put them in the parrot aviary that has a hutch inside with a cozy coop heater in the back. In the summer, they go out there when a few weeks old.

The majority of the aviary is covered with white greenhouse tarping, but there's an open area where the free rangers will come gawk at them, but we cannot put them in the coop. Silkies are sweet but relentlessly cruel to chicks/chickens smaller than they are. In trying to integrate, nothing before 5 months old has ever worked. If our coop was larger, we could build a pen in there, but free ranging together is about the best we get until they're old enough to join them in the coop.

 

[Galaxy_rules]

Its the number of nestboxes and the space inside the coop that counts as well.

More questions just because I got curious: Do you have 3 rooster with 7 hens without any problems?
Are the eggs in the incubator your own eggs?

Can you easily transport the eggs in the incubator to your home and keep them warm? If so, you might consider to change the fake eggs with the hatchery eggs if you have a solid broody.

They’ve got a coop with 4 feet of space each, three nesting boxes. Yes I have no problem with my roosters, I had for but two of them started fighting, so I got rid of one. Two are silkies, so it’s fine. The eggs in the incubator are from my hens. Not really, we’re paying someone to incubate them for us…

 

[BigBlueHen53]

But ... at this point you do not have a broody hen, right? It seems to me you need to make your travel plans as if there is not going to be a broody in the picture. By the time your chicks are a month old, pasty butt is usually not much of a problem, at least not in my experience. Yes, make sure your caretaker know about it and will check for it, and knows how to deal with it just in case, but chances are it won't be a problem. I understand the chicks will be a month old when you leave, right?

 

[Galaxy_rules]

But ... at this point you do not have a broody hen, right? It seems to me you need to make your travel plans as if there is not going to be a broody in the picture. By the time your chicks are a month old, pasty butt is usually not much of a problem, at least not in my experience. Yes, make sure your caretaker know about it and will check for it, and knows how to deal with it just in case, but chances are it won't be a problem. I understand the chicks will be a month old when you leave, right?

Yes, all correct.

 

[Galaxy_rules]

I never had problems with broodies rejecting their chicks. And I have been reading silkies are good mothers too. But …

I hadn’t thought about very cold weather and didn’t look for your location until now.

Canada! What is the temp in March where you live shortly after sunrise? Im afraid it’s too early in the year for young chicks to walk around outside even with a good mother hen.

This makes a brooder with chicks inside the house probably a much safer option.

It’s pretty warm in March, around 10 to 14 celcius. We would have them inside at first though.

 

[Galaxy_rules]

They were candled the day before yesterday, and… five out of eight eggs were developing! Sadly, no silkies, but four mystery eggs
( mixes ) and two Australorps. Eight days till they start hatching!

 

[Galaxy_rules]

@Debbie292d @BDutch @BigBlueHen53 @WoDia @Lacy Duckwing @Huntmaster

 

[WoDia]

They were candled the day before yesterday, and… five out of eight eggs were developing! Sadly, no silkies, but four mystery eggs
( mixes ) and two Australorps. Eight days till they start hatching!

Sorry about your 3 Silkie eggs. But, it sounds like the others are doing well. Do you have everything set-up for the one taking care of them while you’re away? Have they brooded chicks before?

 

[Galaxy_rules]

Sorry about your 3 Silkie eggs. But, it sounds like the others are doing well. Do you have everything set-up for the one taking care of them while you’re away? Have they brooded chicks before?

Yes, they know what to do

 

[WoDia]

Yes, they know what to do

Okay, wonderful. It’s just the waiting game now. We need to see chick photos in a little over a week!