How old do pullets need to be to survive fall and winter temps?

[kesrchicky16]

Ok so bit of a long back story. We started with chickens last October. The first layed the second morning we had them. I've been fighting mild broodiness with one of my top hens (buff Orpington) since very early spring (February). I had no roosters so I just kept tossing her off the nests and collecting eggs. Now because of preditor problems I decided to get roosters (2 for my 15 ladies). She was very interested in the boys from the morning they got here. Play penned for 6 days. She was dancing and calling them from day 2. Very willing for their affection as soon as I let them out of the separation. 2 days later she is violently defending the eggs she is sitting on (not all hers 1 is an EE). So I said screw it gave her the 4 eggs I had that day and 2 more that would hatch within 24 hours. It was very hot so I'm hopeful the extras would be viable. I separated her into the roosters playpen because the other hens were being meaner then I was comfortable with. They are due to hatch August 8th. My youngest birds last fall were 16 weeks the beginning of October and did just fine.

Now my current problem. I have a RIR starting broody. I will happily make a broody pen for her and give her a day worth of eggs but that would leave me with very young chicks going into fall and winter. Should I just try to break her broody this time and plan on setting up a collection of broody pens next spring?

While I'm asking:
How young should I let mommy and babies out with the rest of the flock?
What should I watch out for with their introduction?
What can I provide her to make their hatching easier or young childhood smoother?

I'm fascinated with watching her nature. She has started "chirp huming" and watching her rotate the eggs so gently when I know she could more easily break them. I saw her off the nest eating and tried to take her higher protein fresh treats and made sure to "ignore" the nest but she promptly went to check and sit so I couldn't bother her babies.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm glad you have a good mama broody. You shouldn't worry a bit about fall and winter weather. As long as the chicks are 5 weeks old, they should be able to handle any cold weather they meet up with. And we'll not be getting cold weather any time soon! Also, Mama will take care of keeping them warm. As for allowing them to integrate into the flock, if you have plenty of room in coop and run, Mama will defend her babies from the rest of the flock, and she will take care of integration. Her defensive hormones will be highest within the first 2 weeks after hatch, so ideally, integration should happen then. Of course the dynamics of every flock are different, as is every broody hen, so your mileage may vary.

 

[kesrchicky16]

We free range during the day so daytime space is not a problem. Sleeping coop space is getting a bit cramped. It seems the her tenancy should be to take them back to where she hatched them to sleep so that should ease that. My chickens were much more snuggly through the winter then they are now.

 

[centrarchid]

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