December broody questions

[happymorrows]

Hi all, I have my first broody in her nestbox. I am a little concerned about a winter hatching. I only let her keep 4 eggs under her as this was the first time and I don't know how things are going to go. Anyone else have experience with winter hatchings in the coop? Are the babies going to be OK? My nest box is up off the ground about a foot so I will be moving her to a cat crate in the coop. Should I do it now, or wait until the eggs hatch? Also, I candled one of the eggs tonight. I was expecting it to be about 8 days along, but it was almost completely opaque. I guess they are farther along than I thought? I am going to try another one tomorrow night. Is there a point at which I shouldn't touch/pick up the eggs anymore? Here are some picture of her (she is the BO) being harassed by some of the other ladies. She of course picked the favorite box to brood in.

 

[NoseyChickens]

I have a broody with 2 duck eggs under her. I haven't bothered the eggs but once to check for development. They are due the week of Christmas. I do check under her everyday because she is in the main coop and is still trying to take extra eggs to sit on when the other girls lay. No one is bothering her so I have left her where she is at. But I wonder too if I should have given her her own space. Our weather is not too extreme here in the winter months. But I know it can be in NC. I would say you could always take the chicks away if you are really worried once they hatch and brood them under a heat lamp. I would think she would be able to keep them warm enough though. I would also leave the eggs alone from here on on out other than to just take a peek under her once a day if you do not know how far along the eggs are. Good luck!

 

[NonnasBabies]

Can you just put a heat lamp in the coop with the mama and let her contiue to brood them herself???

 

[happymorrows]

I have one heat lamp in there over the roost. I can move it to her space once the peeps hatch. I guess I will wait till then to move her to the little dog crate in the coop. I understand they tend to prefer the actual spot they chose to brood over the actual eggs themselves. I will leave the eggs alone except to check for extras. This is pretty exciting stuff!

Oh, do I have to worry about the other chickens/rooster bothering the babies? I assume mama broody will protect them.