Silkie Broody in Mid October?

[Lspears218]

My silkie hen is about 7 months old now and for the first time ever she is broody. My concern is that we are in mid October. We live in central Louisiana , it does get cold in the winter (40s in the day, 30s at night during the January-February months) I know it isn’t the coldest environment by far, but what about for baby chicks?
Advice on this issue would be helpful being this is my first experience with a broody hen and I wasn’t expecting this to happen right on the doorstep of winter.

 

[sourland]

I've had attentive hens that successfully raised chicks in the winter. They need a dry, draft free coop and a steady supply of feed and water. Chicks can become readily chilled, so they need attentive mothers. It's amazing how rapidly they feather out when it is cold.

 

[Lspears218]

I've had attentive hens that successfully raised chicks in the winter. They need a dry, draft free coop and a steady supply of feed and water. Chicks can become readily chilled, so they need attentive mothers. It's amazing how rapidly they feather out when it is cold.

Thanks for that , I have constantly read here that silkies are great mothers as well so my hopes are that they’ll be successful like yours. I’ll cover a couple of drafty areas in the coop. Thank you for the advice wish my girl good luck

 

[sourland]

Good luck for a successful incubation/hatch/raising. Update this thread as things progress.

 

[Lspears218]

Good luck for a successful incubation/hatch/raising. Update this thread as things progress.

I sure will , it is an exciting moment to experience so I’ll be ready to share it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might want to read this thread. She was colder than you will ever be.

Broody in Michigan Winter? | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

It can be harder in the cold. Things that might be an inconvenience in warmer weather can become deadly in cold weather, but many hens manage fine. if you break her from being broody there is an excellent chance she will go broody again next year in better weather. Something to consider.

If you do decide to go ahead with hatching I suggest you not put a lot of eggs under her. The chicks grow very fast and the hen needs to be able to cover them a lot more in cold weather than she does in warm weather. I don't know how big that Siklie is or how big the eggs are, hens and eggs come in different sizes, but where I typically set 12 eggs in warm weather I only set 8 in cold weather.

 

[Lspears218]

You might want to read this thread. She was colder than you will ever be.

Broody in Michigan Winter? | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

It can be harder in the cold. Things that might be an inconvenience in warmer weather can become deadly in cold weather, but many hens manage fine. if you break her from being broody there is an excellent chance she will go broody again next year in better weather. Something to consider.

If you do decide to go ahead with hatching I suggest you not put a lot of eggs under her. The chicks grow very fast and the hen needs to be able to cover them a lot more in cold weather than she does in warm weather. I don't know how big that Siklie is or how big the eggs are, hens and eggs come in different sizes, but where I typically set 12 eggs in warm weather I only set 8 in cold weather.

I appreciate this very much. Currently she is on 5 eggs but upon a brief candling (I’m no pro) it looks like 2 are viable. I didn’t pull the other eggs out yet since I am not 100% sure. Currently our temps are in the 50s at night so above freezing but still concerning to me. I boarded the windows in the coop and left just ventilation holes for now so it isn’t drafty. I do have a previous post of the coop we built with pics , the top triangles are now boarded up to keep them warm. I’m like a concerned first time mother lol, but all seriousness I don’t want any harm to her or the others.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Is she set on her own eggs, or someone else’s? I have seen it posted that it isn’t good to let a young pullet hatch her own eggs unless the eggs have gotten to “full size” for that breed. To make sure the chicks have plenty of room to grow and develop. That is probably a bigger concern than the cold. If her eggs are the same size as a mature Silky or if they are full size eggs from other hens then it is probably fine.

Make sure when you cover your drafty areas that you leave adequate ventilation in some areas where a draft wouldn’t blow directly on your chicks. The coop has to also stay dry in order to prevent frostbite.