Anyone Else Have a Broody Hen in the Middle of Winter?

[chris_p]

My Bantam hen is sitting on a clutch of about 4 or 5 eggs. She started on Saturday -- the coldest day of the year (it was down in the teens at night and the temp peaked at 24 degrees F during the day).

I live in Sourthen Maryland, by the way, about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C.

The coop is clean and lined with pine shavings. It's insulated and slightly heated to keep it above freezing. I make sure she has access to fresh food and water daily, which has been placed right in front of her.

Other than that, any tips for me. This would be our first hatch.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Yep i had 6 broodies but i broke 3 of them, the other 3 are stubborn and won't break of the broodiness and i refuse to let them raise babies when its -40 with the windchill sometimes

 

[BirdBoy88]

I have 2 Banty hens that went broody have been broody for about a week now but i took the eggs from under them because i have other hens laying in there nest and it would have been eggs with different hatch dates..lol

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Hello

My Buff Orphington (Lucky) has been broody this past month in all the cold. I put golf balls in the coop to stop them from breaking the eggs and she has been tryng to hatch them. So I guess they can go broody any time of year!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Yup. I had one silkie go broody back in November. She sat during the coldest three weeks the area has ever had in December. On the 13th she hatched out four chicks who are doing great!

Silkie #2 went broody this past week (temps in the single digits). I have no luck breaking silkies of broodiness so I gave her half a dozen eggs and told her to have fun. She's happily hunkered over them even as we speak. The funny thing is that Silkie #1's babies have figured out that she is a willing furnace and so I find them all piled in the nest box with her! Silly chickens!

Welcome to BYC!!

 

[chris_p]

I figured the longer days caused her to go broody, but in the middle of winter? If she hatches the eggs, I'll grab the chicks as soon as possible and put them into a heated, insulated cage I have in the basement to keep them at 95 degrees.

 

[ntiveheart]

i have a bantam cochin and a silkie that are broody right now.....'course we're in florida, so i don't have the same concerns for it that most of ya'll do. still, this is the first time any of my girls have gone broody in the winter. c'est la vie, i guess

 

[morelcabin]

Got a broody silkie here too...-40 and broody right through it. Now that the weather has warmed up some I am tempted to put her back in the shed with her eggs and see if she can pull it off. One thing fo sure, they would be pretty hardy chicks if they survived...just what I need:>)

 

[chickenboy95]

yes i do. i have 4 broodies. 1 is a mix breed bantam that is settin on a cluth of 6 eggs and 2 more aint gettin nothin and 1 is gettin 9 eggs from the bator today or tomarrow. she a standard cochin.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Chris, while I don't think it's as cold here as it is in Maryland (lows have ranged from 2 degrees up into the low 20s), my chicks have been just fine outside with mama. I watched them pretty carefully, but they seem just peachy out there. When they were just fuzzies, they would run around for a minute and then dive back up under mama to warm up. Then all four would dash out and grab a bite to eat and dive back under mama. Mom would hunker down and spread out her wings a smidge and cuddle them up. They still try to do it every now and then even though they are mostly feathered out and are too tall to fit under. It's really funny to see heads and feet and tails sticking out from under the little white silkie (mama is a bantum and three of the babies are standards).

All of that to say that it is really interesting having them out with their mom. She has taught them all sorts of things! Plus, they are very much a part of the flock, so I don't have to worry about integrating the babies in with the big girls later. Depending on how wretched the weather is up there, you might consider just letting the mama hen have at it.

Just a thought. Mine turned out to be a lot hardier than I thought they would be.