I have a silkie hen who has been laying on 3 eggs. My roosters are young so I didn't think the eggs would be fertile but lo and behold today she hatched one baby chick. The weather here is in the low 40's' at night now. They have an insulated coop, and the mama now has a divider to keep the other hens away. I put a heat lamp down low to the floor. With the temperature, should I move the hen and her baby into our garage with a heat lamp? Or will she keep it warm enough in the coop with the heat lamp for it to survive? I've not hatched chicks before, only had orders of them shipped and raised them in a tub in the garage with a heat lamp until summer...
If they are under a hen, they don't need a heat lamp. Mama hen will keep them warm. Just make sure you have food/water at chick level and she will do the rest.
Thanks so much! This was so unexpected and only one chick so I was in a panic about it freezing to death overnight.. So the little chick is a cross between my Splash silkie rooster and a buff hen and he looks like a gold and black calico cat... Just a lively little thing..
I would suggest putting them in the garage for the time being just in case of any preditors or really chilly nights. Is your coop free of drafts?
The garage would actually be colder. In a coop, the chickens have the benefit of the others body heat. Plus, if you separate them, then you have to deal with reintegration, which can be tough sometimes.
Thanks for the great advice from each of you, I appreciate it. My coop has a closing hatch chicken door which I shut at night so no predators can get in. I had racoons tear through the outer chicken wire last year and killed 9 of my baby silkies so I don't take any chances. But, it's dipping down into the high 30's at night, so I did end up bringing the hen, chick and both remaining eggs into our laundry room where it's cooler than the house but not as cold as the garage. They are in a very large rubber maid tub with a dark enclosed end to hide in. I'll gradually move them to the garage with a heat lamp and then back to the coop. I've candled both the remaining eggs and one is definitely ready to hatch with a full chick in it, but the other I can't tell and didn't want to upset the hen as she's already been moved, so I let the egg be. She's very content and taking good care of the eggs and chick. I'm wondering if the other hens will hurt the chick when I reintegrate them; I've heard other breeds will, so maybe I should keep them separate in the coop until it is bigger?
