I've got a broody hen(s)! Raising winter chicks?

[Smartie_Pants]

I have a silkie hen I got in October as a pullet. She began laying
around the 7th of this month and she's already broody! Every time I go out to get eggs, I find that she has rolled all of them underneath her and I have to pry her up (while getting pecked) to get them. Today she even stole one out from under a hen who was still sitting on it! I went out and found my barred rock hen setting on top of her and when I lifted her up I found the barred rock egg under the silkie. (I had already got all of the eggs besides that one, so I know what happened.)

I got her egg from yesterday off of the counter and an EE egg from yesterday and tried to put them under her. She pecked me, so I laid them in there and watched while she tucked them under herself. I went back later and found the barred rock in there again, trying to get the silkie off of the eggs so SHE could sit on them. The last time I looked, they were sharing. :

So if they hatch I will have a silkie cross and an EE cross. I'm going to seperate mamma hen and the babies because I know the temperment of my chickens and I don't trust them with the babies. Will they be okay in the cold? I set them under her today, so they will be born around the 16th of January! (OMG! I just counted that out, and I will have birthday chickies! My birthday is Jan. 17th!

)

Of course I'll put up a heat lamp and they will have mama to keep them warm too. I need more chickens like I need a hole in the head, but she's going to such great lengths to hatch some babies, and I don't have the heart to let her set there on nothing.

 

[#1California Chick]

Birthday Chicks!!!!

What fun!!

She is going to be a really young mama!

Cindy

 

[Smartie_Pants]

#1California Chick :

Birthday Chicks!!!!

What fun!!

She is going to be a really young mama!

Cindy

I know! If she turns out to be a bad mother I'll take care of them though. I have only had one other hen go broody before and she was a silkie too, but she was over a year old. This one only laid about 14 eggs and then went broody. I thought maybe she just wanted to lay up in the box, but its been about three days and she hasn't even gotten down for food. I had to put food and water up there with her so she wouldn't starve or dehydrate, and she wouldn't stop stealing eggs from the other hens! Poor thing was trying to set on a Golden Comet egg that is about 3-4 times the size of hers!

I wonder if she will still steal the other eggs now that I gave her a couple?

 

[Smartie_Pants]

I have read a lot about the pendulum test on here and decided to try it out. I tested the two eggs under her. Her egg was a girl, the EE egg a roo. I took the roo egg out and got two from yesterday that tested as girls. So right now she is supposedly setting on three girls. When they hatch, we'll see if any roos pop up. Reading about this just got me really curious and I thought I'd try this out.