broody hen hatching eggs in cold weather

[lollypop1478]

Hi, hope I have posted this in the right place, not been on here for a while, but hope you can help, we went on holiday for a week leaving the chickens in the hands of the inlaws, only to find when we came back the 1 hen was sat on 14 eggs!! She has now been sat for nearly 2 weeks, but as this is the first time I have had a broody hen, it has been cold outside -7 the one night! i'm not sure if the egg will survive,?? Mrs Chick has a nice nice thick straw bed in a separate house to the other hens, with food and water close by and I have been putting a snugglesafe in with her at night to try and create some warmth. Do you think they will hatch?? and if they do, what should I do then? take them off her and bring them in the house? or do you think she will keep them warm enough outside? I would be keeping them in a small run away from other chickens and I forgot to say I took most of the eggs off her and left her with 6, thought she would have a better chance keeping 6 warm!! any thought welcome please.

 

[HEChicken]

She should do just fine - you can quit worrying! And don't worry about her keeping them warm after they hatch either - you may be surprised how much they come out from under her even when it seems really cold, but they will pop back under when they get cold and need to warm back up. Congrats on the broody!

 

[chicmom]

The same thing happened to me! Here in Ohio, winters are usually freezing! Below zero and in the 20s, but this year it was strange. It's been in the 40s and 50s. Anyhow, I think the weather has confused my hens and I had FOUR go broody.

I took my silkie hen into the basement and let her brood 13 chicks. Can you hang a heat lamp or something out for them? Or take them into your house and let her brood them there? I know alot of people can't do that....My house is ideal because I have a walk out basement and a storage room right by the walk out door, so I put her in there with a light hanging over them.

 

[lollypop1478]

same here with the weather, im in the middle of the u.k. its been really warm for the time of year up till the time she started sitting! if it does drop colder when they are due to hatch I think I will put them in the garage with heat lamp, not sure Mrs Chick will be very impressed though!!

 

[chicmom]

Maybe HEchicken is right and the broody can handle it.....I guess I'm a worry wart though.....That's why I took them into the house......

Good luck with your broody and I hope all your eggs hatch,
Sharon

 

[Saveelsobrante]

Hello out there! I have had 5 rhode Island reds for about 2 years now. I started out with 6 babies but one became egg bound and we eventually had to euthanize her. I could never wring their necks

How do I post a new thread? Maybe I don't need to. A couple of the hens seem to be low on the pecking number or are weakened in some way. They both are bald behind their combs and have lighter colored feathers.

All of my hens have continued to lay since I bought them. I usually get about 4 eggs/day. It is apparent that one bird doesn't lay very much. The molting has been very light.

As to these 2 hens that seem weaker, I separated them from the more aggressive hens and gave them some whipped raw eggs and some of the 'gamebird feed' they seem to love. I got 5 eggs the next day whereas I usually get about 4 eggs/day.

I would like to know if the missing feathers behind the comb are the sign of any particular problem. Perhaps they are getting pecked in their little barn at night?

I had one of the birds go broody last year and I isolated it with food and water and it eventually came out of it.

 

[christytrav]

Your hen will be just fine and so will her chicks. I live in Alaska and have had hens brood chicks in January. It gets well below zero here. I always put them in their own room of the coop too and let them be. You will be amazed at how hardy the little chicks are and they are not dumb they know right where to go to get warmed back up. My first broody hatched eggs in late Sept and it was cold and very rainy, mom was taking her chicks outside in the rain to scratch in the dirt and I thought she was going to kill them getting them wet like that, but they were just fine. They snuggle up into her down and dry off and warm up. Mother nature knows what it is doing, these mom's are smart. Let her do her thing

 

[lollypop1478]

Tomorrow is the due hatch day, so fingers crossed we will have some little chicks soon

 

[HEChicken]

Oh - can't wait to hear how this turns out, and see pics!

 

[suebee]

The only problem I had was the first one hatched and crawled away from the mother in the dark cold night. It died of exposure. Next time I'll construct a barrier to place closely around her at night to avoid this happening again. Good luck!