Hey folks. This is my first year with chickens, and I have 2 hens that just started laying. I got them this past July as chicks. I have 5 roosters and 7 hens in total, all different breeds and a couple mutts. The 2 hens started laying just 2 days before Christmas!
Now, I live in NW WI and its been cold up here, and we have over a foot of snow. Is this normal for hens to lay this time of year? or BEGIN laying when its 12 degrees outside? I have even had to lean plywood against the coop to keep the snow from drifting in.
I am averaging 2-3 eggs a day. Of course the roosters are still in with them, so a few of them had been fertilized. But I dont have a bator and I dont know that I should let them hatch when it is this cold?
I know the hen should be able to do her job, im just worried about them hatching at the end of January when its still below 0 temps. I cant bring them in the house because i have 3 cats and a dog, and there is no place to put them.
Do you think I should throw the eggs out until I can get the roosters separated? Should I let her try to hatch them?
We will be building a new coop in the spring and my husband says he will build a room on it for a hatchery.
Here is a picture of the coop. (summer and winter) I have hay on the inside along with a heat lamp, but it isnt draft free by any means. Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The hen that is sitting on the nest is a Black Australorp, and there is one other mutt hen that the roosters have been mating with.
Now, I live in NW WI and its been cold up here, and we have over a foot of snow. Is this normal for hens to lay this time of year? or BEGIN laying when its 12 degrees outside? I have even had to lean plywood against the coop to keep the snow from drifting in.
I am averaging 2-3 eggs a day. Of course the roosters are still in with them, so a few of them had been fertilized. But I dont have a bator and I dont know that I should let them hatch when it is this cold?
I know the hen should be able to do her job, im just worried about them hatching at the end of January when its still below 0 temps. I cant bring them in the house because i have 3 cats and a dog, and there is no place to put them.
Do you think I should throw the eggs out until I can get the roosters separated? Should I let her try to hatch them?
We will be building a new coop in the spring and my husband says he will build a room on it for a hatchery.
Here is a picture of the coop. (summer and winter) I have hay on the inside along with a heat lamp, but it isnt draft free by any means. Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The hen that is sitting on the nest is a Black Australorp, and there is one other mutt hen that the roosters have been mating with.
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