Broody Chicken in Winter?

[slabobbin]

I live in TN and we are still getting some cold weather ("cold" to us...in the 30's). I have a chicken who has gone broody. My mom insists that the babies will freeze if I let her sit...I have no idea. Should I let her or should I try to get the eggs?

 

[Jennings Gamefowl]

coming from SC I know its still cold to us( a little) but do you have a brooder? If you do you could raise them in the brooder for a couple of weeks and then maybe mid-march it will be a little warmer for them to be moved out to the pen...

 

[jvls1942]

here in wisc it is a bit cooler.. we had chickens hatch out 28 turkey eggs in Dec. they did just fine..we removed the newbies as they hatched and raised them under heat lights..

the hen could probably raise them as well where you live.. she would just spend a lot of time sitting with the chick under her, though..

 

[slabobbin]

We don't have a brooder...just an old fashioned chicken coop and chickens.

 

[jvls1942]

If you have electricity in your coop it does not take much to set up a brooder in the coop..

I had to find a place for some of the baby turkeys, so I fastened a wire bottomed cage to the wall with a heat lamp in it. it was minus 20 F for a few nights during that time and they came through just fine..

 

[Jennings Gamefowl]

the hen could raise them but here in SC last week was near 60, today its gonna snow.. so hard to predict the weather.. brooders are not hard to make.. do a liitle research if you want to build a brooder..