Female hatched 6 chicks. 1 or 2 days old. Do I bring them in?

[cdmccaffery]

I have 2 female pheasants and one male. One of the females just hatched 6 chicks. I went to TSC and a worker there told me I should bring them in and put them under a heat lamp. I also read online that if the mama is laying on them to keep them warm then they should be fine. It will be in the 30s overnight and I want to make the right decision. I have a heat lamp in the pen but I'm very worried.

 

[rebrascora]

If you think about it logically, the hen has been able to keep the eggs warm enough to incubate and hatch them, therefore she is just as able to keep the chicks warm now that they have hatched. Making sure they are in a secure coop where rats and other predators cannot get to them and where the chicks cannot get separated from the hen is all that is required. Pheasants raise young in the wild all the time without the aid of a heat lamp.

 

[Tony K T]

Let mom raise them.It's less headaches for you if she raises them and she will do a better job at it.Always let moms raise their chicks.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[cdmccaffery]

Thank you so much! I'm glad it's okay for me to leave them together.. I can't stand the thought of taking her babies away from her!