First winter, time change, a 100* heat wave, and my first vacation

[Ketta_czarina]

Everything is happening next week, and I am a chicken-momma-wreck!

1. My chicks from March and May have all started laying about an egg a day, will they go broody like their momma? I read something about triggering a Molt? I’m guessing this is a “wait and see” thing, but with this crazy heat wave, I thought I’d ask. It’s supposed to drop back down to the 40’s at night, I know I hate the weather changes, will they too? I boarded up some of the coop walls and gave them more roosting space, and there are 10 nesting boxes if they ever decided to sleep separately, anything else?

2. Time change... I’ve been sleeping in til almost 7, and I’m not looking forward to getting up early again, is there any way to control their wake-up time? Will the darker coop help? Or is sunrise just part of chicken-momma life?

3. My kids will be doing most of the caring for the animals while I’m gone, but they are staying with my mom, I’m just wondering if I can prepare her for any new behavior. It’s my first time away from my flock and I’ll be out of the country with little cell reception, I’m nervous! I’ve been re-securing the weak spots in my coop and run, just in case they forget to lock up or something. We have lots of clean hanging waterers and I’ve switched to managed feeding times since I saw a mouse, and they semi-free range all day. That should be good, right?

4. I think I’ve had a hen go broody today, I pulled out the fresh eggs she was sitting on and left her some fake ones, I’ll be back before her 21 days are up, can I decide then if I want to break her or see if she’ll adopt babies like my other momma? Or should I just try to break her now? I’m at 10 hens, I’m feeling pretty settled with my flock size, but I sure do love to see a proud momma and her tiny chicks.

 

[azygous]

Where do you live?

Do you have perches in the coop? Nests are not for sleeping. They are for egg laying.

Daylight saving only affects you. Your chickens do not care about what a clock says. They go by when the sun comes up and goes down, no matter whether it's daylight saving or standard time.

Being broody is determined by the hen sensing she has laid enough eggs to incubate and her hormones change from egg laying to broody hormones. The time to break a broody hen is in the first few days, not at the end of three weeks.

Extreme temperature changes do affect chickens. They are more sensitive to it than we are. Heat is worse than extreme cold, and they need to be managed to mitigate dehydration and overheating.

 

[Ketta_czarina]

I’m in Southern California, and I just added extra roosts, as my last chicks have stopped sleeping in the nesting box with their momma. They are still trying to sleep under her on the roost.

The hen that is (definitely) brooding won’t let her chicks in with her, so they are sleeping in the box right next to hers. They are like 4 months old now though, so they should be moving to the roosts with the others soon.

 

[aart]

They are like 4 months old now though, so they should be moving to the roosts with the others soon.

You might have to' force' them by adding more roosts and blocking nests.

 

[Ketta_czarina]

These goofy girls will only use the top 3 nesting boxes, and the top three roosts. They would rather be all squished together then move a couple inches down to the lower levels. But I could try blocking the boxes