Ever had a winter broody?

My silkie went broody a couple of days ago. First time we have had a broody. I have been collecting her eggs because they are not fertile. However we have some eggs in the incubator, I gave her 2 of those today. Now I'm worried the chicks will freeze when they hatch. And The coop that she is in, is maxed out for space. With the never ending snow, I was thinking of moving her to the garage. Then she could raise the other 6 chicks that will be hatching ( the ones still in the incubator). But I'm concerned about reintegrating her.The eggs are LG and she is Banty. Any thought what I should do?
I like your plan of moving her to an isolated area so she can hatch without the coop traffic. That always works best for me. I find integration issues are much easier to solve than kicked out fertile eggs or broken eggs or abandoned nests because my banty has been pushed off by larger and more dominant hens.

My banty gets no respect from my main LF flock as she is the only banty, so I too separate her when she broods. I then used to reintegrate her (I don't now simply because I'm always raising the next generation to keep my layers turned over, so she is always brooding for me...she gets done with one set to start the next so she gets permanent residence in my broody hutch now.)

However, when I did re-integrate her, she was surrounded by her chicks (I waited until they were about 6 to 8 weeks of age? Beyond tiny baby so they couldn't escape out from under my fence). She was a demon possessed taking on any flock member, even the top hen, if they even looked so much as sideways at her babies. She kept all the hens at bay. Momma and chicks made a tight little band of feathers until the babies were nearly adult size (about 16 weeks?) and momma went broody again (she broods about every 3 to 4 months).

So I think re-integration will go well if you integrate them when momma is still acting like a mom but babies aren't so small that they can expire quickly if they get stranded from mom, especially in the cold weather. Even older works well as the mom and babies will make a tight subflock that will stick together and fend off any aggressive attacks. Younger works only if momma is confident enough to fend off overly assertive hens and cannot be chased away from her babies such that they get stranded.

It can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, due to general flock chemistry and individual birds, until you see complete integration, but that is the way of the pecking order.

My experiences.
Lady of McCamley
 
My Silkies' babies are getting bigger. They are the four in front of the feeder (three golden, one white) in the first pic, and the black one against the chicken wire in the second pic, on this side of the wire. I hatched and raised the rest of the babies myself (yes, the babies are all in with the parents/adults).

 
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Love these pictures! Here's my mama hen with her babies, just about 2wks old now? All 7 are under her, but not for much longer I think! Here's a question for all those that have done winter hatches, how has your gender ratio been? The last time I had a winter hatch I got 3 roos and 1 hen. I'm hoping this hatch isn't that rooster-heavy but I've heard a lot of rumors that it's common in winter. Thoughts?

 
My winter broody hatched 8 chicks: 4 RIRs, 2 EEs, 1 Dominique, and 1 Buff Orpington.

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They are six weeks old next week.

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I moved the broody hen back to the layer pen yesterday to begin adapting her to being back with the flock. The chicks are still in the brooder until I need it for younger chicks. Then I will move them out.
 


She did it! My Faverolles hatched out 3 of her 6 eggs yesterday (though one was dead I think she squished it). She is still sitting on 3 eggs. When she feels as though they are no longer viable she will just get out of the box, correct? These are adopted eggs (RIR) since we didn't have a rooster.
 
I have a winter broody!
Well.... I have six! One just hatched her eggs and has 9 chicks!



Then .....
#1 Has 13 eggs!
#2 Has 9 eggs
#3 Has 17 eggs
#4 Has 15 eggs
#5 Also has 15 eggs!
All due in the middle of June beginning of July! That's winter for us here is the southern hemisphere!!!
 

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