Thoughts about winter hatch?

[mrsshmee]

Hi! We have our first broody(Silkie) that has a clutch(barnyard specials) due to hatch in 11 days. She's currently still in the regular coop with the rest of the flock. I'm planning on moving her to another yard once the eggs hatch. My question is do I need to use a light to help her keep the chicks warm since its cold? We live in central Ca so its not freezing yet but it could most likely get into the 40s at night. I want to make sure I have everything set up in time to keep everyone warm and healthy. Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

How many eggs? In order to work, she needs to be able to tuck all the babies under her when sleeping for the first few weeks

 

[Izzy Dietzler]

I would suggest taking the chicks away. Chickens spend a lot of their energy trying to keep themselves warm during winter and having to keep others warm as well can sometimes be to much for them. I would be scared that when she gets up off the chicks to get food and water the chicks would get a bit chilled. Im not saying it cant be done by her but it will drain more of her energy.

 

[bobbi-j]

You absolutely don’t need to take the chicks from the mama. At your temperatures, she will be able to keep them plenty warm herself. It doesn’t take any more energy for her to keep them warm than if she’s by herself. Her body heat doesn’t change. The chicks will be mobile shortly after they hatch, so if she gets up to eat or drink, they’ll follow her. That’s a good thing as she will teach them to eat and drink.
She may stay on the nest with them the first 12-24 hours after they hatch, but they’ll be fine.
If they’re not free ranging, I like to keep my broody and chicks with the flock. They will integrate much more easily that way with Mama protecting them than if you wait until her broody hormones subside.

 

[Izzy Dietzler]

You absolutely don’t need to take the chicks from the mama. At your temperatures, she will be able to keep them plenty warm herself. It doesn’t take any more energy for her to keep them warm than if she’s by herself. Her body heat doesn’t change. The chicks will be mobile shortly after they hatch, so if she gets up to eat or drink, they’ll follow her. That’s a good thing as she will teach them to eat and drink.
She may stay on the nest with them the first 12-24 hours after they hatch, but they’ll be fine.
If they’re not free ranging, I like to keep my broody and chicks with the flock. They will integrate much more easily that way with Mama protecting them than if you wait until her broody hormones subside.

Most of my broody hens that I let hatch eggs end up killing half of the chicks from either crushing them when they are under her or they get trampled by our other chickens. I learned pretty fast its best for the chicks if they are taken away. Also most of my chickens act freezing and its only 35-40 degrees out, I cant imagine chicks with no feathers outside. They will spend most of their time under mom rather than being able to run around.

 

[bobbi-j]

I have never had a chick get crushed or trampled by another chicken when keeping them with the flock. How many chickens do you have in what size of a space?

My broodies keep the chicks pretty close to them the first week or so, then they take them out with the rest of the flock. I find broody-raised chicks tend to roost sooner and adjust more quickly to the flock than if they are integrated without mama.

I raise chicks in the coop the spring in MN. Some days it doesn’t get above 40. They have a heating pad brooder, and go in and out from under it as they wish. Baby chicks aren’t as delicate as one would think. They run around in the coop, go warm up as needed, and are out running around again. The chicks I start out with the MHP feather out more quickly than ones I have started with a heat lamp.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Most of my broody hens that I let hatch eggs end up killing half of the chicks from either crushing them when they are under her or they get trampled by our other chickens. I learned pretty fast its best for the chicks if they are taken away. Also most of my chickens act freezing and its only 35-40 degrees out, I cant imagine chicks with no feathers outside. They will spend most of their time under mom rather than being able to run around.

We had a cold snap with negatives for 2 weeks. We have 2 free range mama's, with a combined total of 11 chicks (one had 2 and one had 9) and we only lost one from the hen with 2

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I think if you have a draft free coop for her and chicks she will do fine.
I have a broody coop within my main coop so the flock are all together but mumma and bubs have their own area to go back to whenever they want. The others don't mess with any of my broody hens or their chicks. There would be likely death if they even tried to come close to my defending broody and they know it!
Have you posted in the November Hatch A Long? I love pics! (especially of Silkies) My Silkie is due to hatch eggs in about 10 days

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most of my broody hens that I let hatch eggs end up killing half of the chicks from either crushing them when they are under her or they get trampled by our other chickens.

What kind of set-up do you have? I typically have 3 or 4 broody hatches with the flock every year and hey raise the chicks with the flock from Day 1 and, like Bobbi, never have those problems. We all have different set-ups, management techniques, and all that so it's not surprising we'd get different results. I'm curious as to what makes yours different.

My question is do I need to use a light to help her keep the chicks warm since its cold?

You might find this instructive. It's a journal someone kept while letting a broody hen hatch and raise chicks in weather a lot colder than yours.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/947046/broody-in-michigan-winter

 

[Izzy Dietzler]

What kind of set-up do you have? I typically have 3 or 4 broody hatches with the flock every year and hey raise the chicks with the flock from Day 1 and, like Bobbi, never have those problems. We all have different set-ups, management techniques, and all that so it's not surprising we'd get different results. I'm curious as to what makes yours different.



You might find this instructive. It's a journal someone kept while letting a broody hen hatch and raise chicks in weather a lot colder than yours.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/947046/broody-in-michigan-winter

Insulated coop, nest on the ground and rooster is unable to get into nest. I have found so many chicks crushed flat underneath the hen in the mornings. Out of 5 from the first batch only 2 grew to be more than a moth old then one got taken by a predator during the middle of the day when it decided to squeeze through the fence into the open. So out of 3 broody hatches we only had 2 chicks that survived and grew to be more than a year old.