broody hen..should i let her hatch eggs before winter?

My grandfather's old english game bantams lived in an unheated detached garage and they would come out in the snow with fuzzy baby chicks in tow. They would get under momma hen when they got cold.

 

As long as mama has a place that is sheltered from wind and weather, then she can raise the babies just fine. When they get cold they will begin peeping loudly, (telling her they are cold I suppose) and she will find a spot to hunker down and let the babies snuggle up in her fluff to warm themselves.

 

I would say it depends on where you live. The mama will wean the chicks at about 4 weeks or so. So, if you set one now, they'll hatch around the end of November. They'll be on their own around the end of December. I don't know if they would have enough feathers by then or be big enough to generate enough body heat on their own to live in an unheated coop when it could be in the double-digits below zero by then. Now, if you live in a warmer climate where it doesn't get below freezing (or maybe even below zero) I don't see a problem with it.

 

Very true. I didn't think to mention the dependence on climate. Living in Texas, I tend to forget how frigid other areas of the country can get, and how early.

 

Living in Minnesota, I tend to forget that some people get to be warm in the winter.

 

I'm in Northern Wyoming and just had a chick hatch either late Tuesday nite or early Wednesday morning, I'm not sure which. He had a rough first day, but now he's out there running around with Mom and learning how to be a big chicken! A broody this late in the year is not the way I'd chosen to have done it, but since this was my little granddaughter's chicken and I'm a pushover where my grandkids are concerned, we ordered some hatching eggs. I'll never do shipped eggs again, but we are thrilled with this little guy. I've learned one valuable lesson - no matter what time of year, those ladies usually know exactly what to do

 

Congratulations on your little guy! I agree that the mama knows what to do, I just wonder about after she's decided to wean them and they're on their own. I honestly can't say I have experience with it since I don't let my broodies hatch this late for that very reason. It's just something to think about.

 

If it were me, I'd be collecting the eggs, too. We don't get quite that cold on a daily basis, but it does get there at some point in the winter, sometimes for a couple weeks at a time. I'm not looking forward to it, either.