Keeping the Chicks Warm with a Broody.

[The_Patriot5150]

I have a question about keeping my chicks warm with my broody hen. I have the 5 chicks and my broody in my second coop for my younger chickens, but I have never raised baby chicks inside of that coop, I only put the younger chickens in there when they are fully feathered and can hold their own heat, I raise the chicks in the brooder with a heat lamp but want to do it the old fashion way with a broody. I am just worried about the temperature outside at the moment which is at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night and around 65 at night. Can my Light Brahma broody keep five, three day old chicks warm in that temperature to keep them at 90 degrees? Or should I be worried?

 

[hysop]

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I have a question about keeping my chicks warm with my broody hen. I have the 5 chicks and my broody in my second coop for my younger chickens, but I have never raised baby chicks inside of that coop, I only put the younger chickens in there when they are fully feathered and can hold their own heat, I raise the chicks in the brooder with a heat lamp but want to do it the old fashion way with a broody. I am just worried about the temperature outside at the moment which is at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night and around 65 at night. Can my Light Brahma broody keep five, three day old chicks warm in that temperature to keep them at 90 degrees? Or should I be worried?

If she accepts them then she’s more than capable of keeping all the chicks toasty

 

[The_Patriot5150]

Here’s the full set up I have in the coop, I took all the roosts out and the nesting boxes so they can run around. No wind drafts with get in there and they have some light.

 

[The_Patriot5150]

If she accepts them then she’s more than capable of keeping all the chicks toasty

Thank you for comforting my anxiety. I worry about everything when it comes to my chicks.

 

[hysop]

Thank you for comforting my anxiety. I worry about everything when it comes to my chicks.

That is a lovely hen & chick picture. I love it. They’re so cute I wanna squish them.

Yup no need to worry. They know to keep the chicks warm. Is this her first time being broody? I do know some are not good moms but if she accepted them already that’s a good sign.

I had a hen hatch out some eggs and right before they would hatch or right after they hatched she threw the eggs on the floor. No idea why. But I’ve also had an awesome broody momma hen.

 

[The_Patriot5150]

That is a lovely hen & chick picture. I love it. They’re so cute I wanna squish them.

Yup no need to worry. They know to keep the chicks warm. Is this her first time being broody? I do know some are not good moms but if she accepted them already that’s a good sign.

I had a hen hatch out some eggs and right before they would hatch or right after they hatched she threw the eggs on the floor. No idea why. But I’ve also had an awesome broody momma hen.

Yes, this is her first ever clutch of eggs. Since it has been three days since they have hatched, I’m thinking she has accepted them as her babies. I have always heard that Brahma hens are great mothers to their chicks.

 

[centrarchid]

Hen in first picture covering only two chicks.

She had to contend with freezing temperatures around her nest box which had only card board protecting her brood from below.

Last year she successfully covered two broods, each with eleven chicks at time of weaning at about 5 weeks post hatch. The first brood hatched on Easter so had to deal with cold each morning. Both broods where hatched and roosted in a little prefabricated chicken coop that had the door open all the time. Chicks at about 4 weeks were tough to cover, but in the first couple weeks you could not see them when she covered them. Hen below is mother of first hen.

This hen has 17 chicks.

What you want to avoid is wet or having chicks spending too much time feeding when they need to be staying warm and dry. Hen below on 9 chicks having trouble.

These to hens each have better than 10 chicks at time of photograph during solar eclipse a couple years ago. First is mother of hen in first image. Most of time conditions are dry and sunny. At night things generally ok. The challenge is with conditions like shown above.