question about where to keep them babies!!

[tink]

I have a hen who has been sitting for the last two weeks. Next Wed...I think will be day 21. If the weater should stay cold...should I bring the babies in the house, or should I let Momma keep them warm? I am not sure how delicate they are when they are born ala natural!! Should I bring her in too or just take them away from her? Or should I just wait and see?
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[justusnak]

Wow, thats a toughie. Do you have a place outside where you can have momma and the babies...with a heat lamp? Im not sure just how cold you all are getting there. We are in single digits...so I would have to have her near a heat lamp. She might have to be seperated from the others as well..and the Roo. My Roo killed 2 of my mommas babies.....right in front of me! She was then put in a smaller space, alone with her brood.

 

[tink]

I have her in a smaller cage inside the coop. She is right next to the red heat lamp. It has been running between 18 to 34 here at night. I am going to have to move the cage she is in because it is up high and their little feet will fall through the squares. I could move the whole thing into my garden shed with a heat lamp....That might be the best thing to do. Just didn't know if she could keep them warm enough.... first timer!!! Her and me!!
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[ginasmarans]

She'll be about 100 degrees underneath, so if they are under her,they should be fine. They'll have to come out to eat and drink though,so I don't know if the cold will bother them. I'd say as long as there are no drafts,they'll all be fine.

 

[Pinenot]

Mom hen will have a fit if her babies get out of the cage and she can't get to one. You must protect them from getting out where she can't get to them. I brought mine in last year and put her and her nest in a dog crate until they were old enough to be outside on their own...problem there was that the pecking order was disturbed and they wanted to pick on mom hen. If you can keep her and babies in there that would be the best...but they must have a place to go or hide behind with mom.

 

[NYREDS]

They'll be fine where they are once you get the cage on the floor so the chicks feet don't go through the wire.
At night, chen it's cold, they'll be under her. I have raised chicks under hens in the winter here in upstate NY wher 34 is a WARM night.

Wher you are they'll do fine.
Relax, hens have been raising chicks for millions of years-she knows what to do.

 

[tink]

Thanks....That was my feeling...I kinda like doing things the "Old fashioned way". Just wanted to make sure that the babies would be warm enough. I grew up on the west coast. Sometimes I want my Momma to keep me warm!! lol
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