Raising baby chicks in the winter?

[crazyfeathers]

I think people underestimate chickens. In my experience I have only lost one hen in our bitter cold Wisconsin winters and I can't prove it was due to the cold. We had 40 to 50 below with the wind chill last winter and I only provided one heat lamp periodically. I read that by providing heat the chickens do not feather out well. Whether this statement was true or not I believed it and it seemed to be true. We are not talking one or two days of severe cold we are talking two months. My coop is in the barn, an old barn with 2 wooden insulated walls and 2 concrete walls with a concrete floor that I cover with pine shavings and some hay.

I wish I had better pics of the coop area I will take some tomorrow. I have a broody polish on 9 eggs as we speak and its October, don't worry they will be closely watched and moved indoors if need be. This is more of an experiment to see if I can have chicks in the winter so I have layers by spring but no chicks will be harmed in this experiment, I am a stay at home chicken mama. As for breeds I have de'uccle roo and hen, turken roo, GLW hens and Roo, EE hens and roos, black stars, red stars, mutts, white rock, astrolorps, production reds, norweigen jaerhons, frizzle roo, polish, polish mixes, . And a few bantam hens of unknown breed well more than a few lol who counts..

 

[nayeli]

So, my beautiful flock of 20 birds had an unfortunate run in with some dogs, and I only have two survivors.

My husband and I would like to get some more chicks, but is it too late in the year? By the time they are 8 weeks old, it will be December. Our winters here in central Arkansas aren't that bad, but would they be okay to go outside in December, if they are fully feathered?

Hey! It's nice to meet a fellow arkansas chicken keeper =) I'm also central arkansas. I'm so sorry you lost 18 of your birds, that is 1/9 of your flock! It isn't to late in the year to get chicks, we just got 4 silkies and I will get more from Ideal in 3-4 days. I don't know what kind of chickens your thinking about getting as far as if you want to look to get some locally or buy and have chicks shipped. Ideal hatchery is only a state away so its easier on them for the shipping. It is already getting cold here so the chicks are inside for the time being... the more chicks you have then the earlier they can go outside (once they are feathered of course).
Have you tried to go to the flea market in Beebe? I've been there. The flea market usually has quiet a few chickens and chicks different breeds, bantams and standard breeds too. There is also animal auctions in Benton. Other than that you can look on craigslist or local groups on facebook that are created for animal sales. You can find free roosters if your looking for one.

 

[ericalynne2005]

That is helpful news we live in northern MN and it gets so cold here. It is our first winter with chickens. I have not used any heat lamps yet even though it's been about 20 at night. My chickens are starting to look real fluffy.

 

[JMCNULTY]

I’m in Texas near San Antonio. We have mild winters, with hell freezing over around 20. Both my kids Participate in FFA and raise show broilers. We pick up our chicks on Dec 1. We use a large plywood brooder that has heat lamps. I control the temperature with a reostat to decrease the temp 5 degrees a week. After 2 weeks we let them a sectioned off section of the coop. On nights below freezing I may run plastic around the coop and turn on multiple heat lamps. If I lose birds during the cold it’s usually due to them bunching up under the lamp and trampling each other.

 

[JustHenny]

Hello from Illinois. I have my first broody hen! And it's 20 degrees outside! My turkey attacked me and I had my fiance do the chicken chores until the turkey was, uhm, gone. So i went in the other day and a hen was sitting all comfy in the nest box. I went in again this morning and she is still there. So I asked him how long she's been sitting there and if there were eggs. He said "Yup, a bunch. But we didn't need them in the house so I left them. She's been there a while." Nearest he can tell me is at least a week and a half. With an eager rooster those eggs are probably half way to hatch! I wouldn't have chosen to have winter chicks, but looks like i'm going to. We don't heat the barn where their coop is and I cannot brood chickens in my house at this time. Advice? I guess I'll leave them with momma and just start the prayers. Should I separate her once they hatch? Please help! Mixed joy and fear, lol.

 

[suewtsn]

I am interested to see how that plays out for you. We have stupid cold winters here in Calgary and my flock are in an insulated coop piled with straw and more (the nice ones who all get picked on are in a barn - not insulated but warm with straw. I don't heat either. The universe knew what it was doing when they made everything. I don't think they need us to fuss over them nearly as much as we LOVE to. I've never hatched in cold but I'm thinking, if you can be bothered, put her in her own insulated box with straw, food and water. There are DIY ideas on Google for cheap or move a dog house in there. If she can stay near the eggs and have access to food and water easily, it might just work. Mum should keep them warm enough until they have feathers.
Keep me posted. Good luck.

 

[JustHenny]

Here they are! Only five of the 13 eggs hatched. But so far so good! They are a week old now. For such a young hen she is doing a great job. I moved them all safely over to the other pen when they were a day or two old and they have their chick feed and water and a turned over old plastic crate as a nest area so they can get in and out easily. There is an old window screen blocking them into a smaller part of the pen until they get a little older. No naming yet though. We shall see how they grow!

 

[TXmama4boys]

[COLOR=000000]I’m in Texas near San Antonio. We have mild winters, with hell freezing over around 20.  Both my kids Participate in FFA and raise show broilers.  We pick up our chicks on Dec 1. We use a large plywood brooder that has heat lamps. I control the temperature with a reostat to decrease the temp 5 degrees a week. After 2 weeks we let them a sectioned off section of the coop. On nights below freezing I may run plastic around the coop and turn on multiple heat lamps. If I lose birds during the cold it’s usually due to them bunching up under the lamp and trampling each other.[/COLOR]

Thanks for the info. We are in San Antonio as well.... I was wondering if it was an okay time to pick up some chicks.

 

[JMCNULTY]

We received 50 broilers on the 4th of Dec. This year has been easy with the high temps. I provide a heat lamp and monitor the temps for the first couple week regardless of the wheather. Broilers grow a lot faster and after 10 days mine are almost already feathered up. I stopped my incubator for egg layers two months ago but still have some broody hens that are hopefully about done. You may be fine to get chicks now if anyone would ship them to you. Maybe local will work. It just depends on your set up. If the weather gets cold can you get them warm. In our area we really don’t have the temps they have up north but, I have enough to cover with my plants I just don’t like to mess with it. I do have a few Banty cochins that are 2 months old all feathered up if your interested.

 

[TXmama4boys]

Thank you! Good to know. How much would they go
for?