Will chicks be okay with Mama hen outdoors in the cold???

[Chickennewbie123]

How are they fertile?

We slipped some fertile eggs under her. The fertile eggs were from our friend who has a rooster. Good question!

 

[Chickennewbie123]

I'm assuming you got fertile eggs from somewhere since none of your hens could possibly lay fertile eggs without a rooster. Mama can take care of them just fine and she will see that they get integrated into the flock. No need to bring them inside.

Thank you for your helpful response! Yes, we did slip some fertile eggs under her.

 

[Chickennewbie123]

if your broody in in the coop with the other hens, i would switch the feed to chick starter non-medicated. the chicks need this and it will not harm the older chickens.
make sure they have a chick waterer. something they cant fall in and drown.
the mother hen will keep them warm, dont worry about that.
i hope you get some chicks! how many did you sit under your broody?

Thank you for your response! Great ideas! I am now wishing we would have slipped more fertile eggs under her, but we started with six and are down to three. One was cracked when we first got it, one disappeared (very strange, although I have two daughters who were talking a lot about trying to sit on one of the eggs and hatching the egg themselves. Not sure if that has something to do with it, but it went missing in the first week), and one we candled and it looks very underdeveloped. She still is sitting on it though. Three looked good when we candled them yesterday. Fingers crossed everything works out since we are very excited.

 

[Chickennewbie123]

New chicks are only accepted if the broody hen protects them which they will do 98% of the time.
A broody will be able to keep them warm down to near 10F. But when I had that situation, I put a heat lamp over the feed and water station. That way they could eat and drink in peace. The chicks were OK under her in the nest.
When it got below 10, I took them inside (I don't know if they would have been OK with her). However when the weather warmed up about 10 days later, I returned them and brought the chicks out in a carrier. It was the most amazing sight. She ran to the carrier to greet them and I'm sure she thought they were gone forever.
Good luck.

Thank you for your response! that is all very helpful information. I don't think it gets down to 10 degrees here. Usually around 30 is pretty cold for us. What a sweet story about returning your chicks to their mama!!

 

[bobbi-j]

I’m sure mama will keep them warm just fine.

 

[Cheychey222]

How are they fertile?

It said she got the eggs from a friend in the beginning

 

[Cheychey222]

I don’t know why you think they are fertile, but unless one your hens is actually a rooster and you’re not aware, your hen is just broody. There really is no way...that I am aware...I could be wrong..but, pretty sure you need a rooster, or a visitor rooster for them to be fertile. If that’s the case, then it’s a different story.

Reread the post!

 

[Cheychey222]

Edit: we got some fertile eggs from a friend and slipped them under our broody.

Hello all,

My hen turned broody three weeks ago, so we decided to go ahead and let her sit on some fertile eggs. Tomorrow is day 21 and I am very excited about the possibility of some chicks hatching!

Of course it has been rather warm here in Oregon, until recently. In fact, we are supposed to get our first snow this coming week. Here are my questions as I am extremely new to this:

1. If any eggs end up hatching, will Mama hen know and be able to care for her chicks in the cold? I prefer not to bring the chicks indoors if at all possible.

2. Are new chicks generally accepted within the flock? Right now we have three hens total. No roosters. there is plenty of space in their Coop, and they are free range during the day.

Thank you so much for any advice!

The broody will more likely protect the chicks, but keep a GOOD eye on them. Sometimes the other hens will pick on the new chicks, which sometimes they kill them. If you had a rooster older than a year he would protect them. The broody hen will keep them warm. I always keep the chicks inside until they get all their feathers and I will still bring them inside at night. But sence you have a broody then they should be fine but on the nights below 15 it’s a great idea to bring them inside.

 

[aart]

As long as mama and chicks have a secure place to be,
dry and out of wind and away from any troublesome flock members,
they'll be fine.
Have had a mama with chicks at single digits and below.
Only bummer was swapping out waterer several times a day.

 

[Cheychey222]

New chicks are only accepted if the broody hen protects them which they will do 98% of the time.
A broody will be able to keep them warm down to near 10F. But when I had that situation, I put a heat lamp over the feed and water station. That way they could eat and drink in peace. The chicks were OK under her in the nest.
When it got below 10, I took them inside (I don't know if they would have been OK with her). However when the weather warmed up about 10 days later, I returned them and brought the chicks out in a carrier. It was the most amazing sight. She ran to the carrier to greet them and I'm sure she thought they were gone forever.
Good luck.

That is one of the most sweetest things I’ve ever heard in my life!