Can a mother hen keep chicks warm during a long freezing winter?

[cubalaya]

yes they go broody in the summer and sometimes the fall but they dont go broody in the winter.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I had two hatch a couple of days before Thanksgiving and at 2 weeks of age it got down to 5 degrees here for the night and Mama did great. Without heat lamps. But now I have two heat lamps on because it is in the single digits for the rest of the week. They should be fine as long as they are out of the weather and wind/draft.

 

[dacjohns]

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OK.

Then I'm wondering what the point of your previous post is. The OP asked about hens and chicks.

 

[walkswithdog]

I have two hens, rearing 3 chicks now, they're almost 3 weeks old. I have a hen gone broody on eggs, right now. Someone tell them they're not supposed to do that. They're not hearing me, or you apparently.

Wait two hens on eggs... A serama and a Barred Rock. The ones with babies are in the banty coop that has three heated areas, since I am also brooding/raising everything that hatched here in Oct/Nov. The barred rock is in the unheated, layer coop and the serama in a cage. Yes, they can brood a group of chicks in winter. No, the survival rate is often not as good as spring, summer, early fall. If they get chilled in a sudden storm when they're outside you often lose them if you don't find them quickly. But some do survive.

I have three, six, eight and ten and twelve week old chicks out there with access to heat. It's been in the teens for days. Not counting wind chill. I have to take out hot water every few hours so the smaller waterers don't freeze solid. Still the chicks are running around like madmen, and when they get cold, they run in to the heat. Voila, surviving smart chickens. Chickens that get cold and don't go back to the heat... die of stupid. A fitting end. The smart and tough make it, the dim don't. It works for me, they free range on nine acres and stupid never survives a year in any case.

Even the outdoor seramas are taking the weather well with access to the heated areas. As are the sizzles, silkies and bantam cochins. The Delawares don't care any more than the Rocks do about weather, they're adults.

 

[Marlinchaser]

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It was the chickens choice to go broody, that is sorta like it is cruel to have a baby in the middle of the winter, I would think that it is CRUEL to stop or try to alter a hens hormonal patern by not allowing her to raise chicks when her body tells her to.

 

[Marlinchaser]

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[teach1rusl]

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That was priceless!

 

[cubalaya]

needless death and suffering of chicks. very funny. you didnt have to let them sit on the eggs. you could have collected the eggs to incubate or you could have eaten them. each to their own but i dont raise chicks in the winter.

 

[Marlinchaser]

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Its the NATURAL way of raising chickens.

 

[Schultz]

I wouldn't chance it if those are chicks you want to live Joe. Sounds a little iffy to us. I have a brooder set up in our heated coop that also has a heat lamp on them 24/7. It's mighty cold around here! BRRRR!