Taking care of a broody hen in winter can be tough, but it’s totally worth it. Broody hens want to sit on their eggs, but in winter it is hard for their because of cold temperature.
During winters it’s cold out, the days are short, and hen might get sick, so we need to keep her warm and safe.
No matter if you’re letting her hatch or trying to stop her, she needs good care in the winter. It’s important for her and the entire flock.
In this guide, I have explained my experience so that you can take care of your hen in the winter.
Also read: Best Broody Chicken Breeds
Understanding The Broodiness First
When hens get broody, they want to sit on their eggs and hatch chicks. It’s all about hormones, which get triggered by eggs or more daylight.
However, some hens become broody even during the winter. When a hen goes broody, she sits inside her nesting box, even if there are no real eggs.
If you don’t do something, she’ll be keep sitting in her nesting box for weeks. She won’t even eat or forage with the other hens.
Common Signs of Broodiness
- Keep Sitting on Nesting Box: If a hen is broody, she’ll mostly sit in her nesting box for a long time. After sitting on the nest, she rarely comes out for food and water.
- Fluffed-Up Feathers: She’ll fluff up her feathers to look bigger, show like she’s protecting her nest.
- Protective Behavior: If someone gets close, she might start clucking like crazy, peck at you, and show little aggressive behavior to scare you away.
Understanding these behaviors helps you to decide how to support her broodiness for chicks or break it, especially during winter.
Initial Preparation For a Broody Hen During Winters
In winter, you must choose whether to support your hen’s broodiness or stop it. You need to decide how to take care of your broody hen in winter.
1. Identify if You Want Chicks
If You Want Her To Hatch Chicks:
Provide Fertilized Eggs:
If a hen’s broody, she’ll only hatch eggs that are fertilized by a rooster. Hens living with a rooster will typically produce fertilized eggs. If you don’t have a rooster; you need to buy fertilized eggs from any trusted source if you want to hatch eggs.
Put the fertilized eggs under the broody hen, make sure they’re clean and fresh, so she can hatch them.
Prepare for Chicks:
To protect the hen and chicks from extreme cold temperatures, make sure the coop is secure, warm, and free of drafts.
If You Do Not Want Chicks:
Take Steps to Break Her Broodiness:
A broody hen without eggs to sit on can become sick because she might stop eating and drinking because of its natural.
To break a hen’s broodiness, you need to prevent her from sitting inside a nesting box. This will help her get back to her daily foraging.
To stop a hen from being broody, try taking her off the nest, using a special cage, or keeping her busy with other stuff away from the nesting area.
We must determine the steps needed to maintain the health and happiness of the hens during winter.
Also read: How To Break A Broody Hen?
Steps to Care for a Broody Hen in Winter
It’s important to take good care of your broody hen in winter, so she stays healthy. Here’s a detailed plan to ensure she’s comfortable and safe in the winter months.
1. Set Up a Warm and Safe Nesting Area
Broody hens are so focused on hatching their eggs they don’t care about the cold. A good, safe spot to nest is really important.
Use a Well-Insulated Coop:
Insulate the chicken coop to maintain warm temperature. Also provide proper ventilation for the hens. Prevent the icy breeze inside the coop by sealing any cracks.
Place the Nesting Box Off the Ground:
Because cold air comes up from the ground, placing the nest box higher helps keep hen warm. Ensure the box is secure by using sturdy stands or platforms.
Line the Nest with Warm Bedding Materials:
Make a cozy, insulating layer using straw, hay, or pine shavings. To keep things clean and avoid mold or smells, change wet or dirty bedding periodically.
Also read: How To Build A Chicken Nesting Boxes?
2. Ensure Proper Ventilation
If the coop doesn’t get enough air, it can get too damp and make your chickens sick.
Keep the Air Flowing:
To prevent drafts in the nesting area, install vents or small openings at the coop’s top to allow moist air to escape.
Avoid Placing Her Near Ventilation Openings:
Ventilation is essential, but direct cold air from vents can be bad for you. Find a draft-free corner and put the nest box tin that place.
3. Provide Adequate Nutrition and Hydration
Broody chickens forget to take care of themselves, so you need to look out for them.
High-Protein Feed:
Broody chickens need a lot of energy to stay warm and sit on their eggs. Feed them some high-protein treats like mealworms, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.
Access to Fresh Water:
Make sure the broody hen has easy access to water by putting a waterer near the nesting area.
Sometimes you may need to add electrolyte to maintain the imbalance in their body. Broody hens need lots of water, especially when they’re nesting.
Check the water regularly in winter so it doesn’t freeze. Don’t forget to use a heated waterer if the water is freezing.
Encourage Eating and Drinking:
Remove her from the nest several times each day to encourage eating, drinking, and stretching. Otherwise, she does not come to eat and forage and becomes weak.
4. Monitor Her Health
Because of their prolonged sitting, broody hens may get health issues. That’s why routine health checks are essential.
Check for Mites or Lice:
Warm, undisturbed places are perfect for bugs like mites, lice, fleas to make their homes. Regularly examine the bird’s feathers and bedding for any evidence of infestation. If you need to, use a spray for mites and lice that’s safe for chickens.
Observe Her Weight and Condition:
Broody hens that do not eat feed and water for a long time may suffer from weight loss and weakness.
If the broody hen seems tired, her comb is pale, or she’s lost a lot of weight, you need to do some extra care for her.
If your hen is broody, follow these tips to keep her healthy and comfy during the winter.
Tips for Handling a Broody Hen in Extreme Cold
It’s a challenge to keep broody hens warm during freezing temperatures. Take care to avoid problems like frostbite, stress, and getting sick from the cold.
Here’s a detailed explanation of how to deal with a broody hen under extreme conditions in winters:
1. Avoid Frostbite
Hens with large size combs and wattles can get frostbite easily when it’s freezing cold outside or during snow fall.
Protect the Combs and Wattles:
Apply some petroleum jelly or a safe ointment on her comb and wattles to protect them from the cold. Put more on if you need it, especially when it’s freezing.
Keep the Coop Dry:
If your coop is damp and humid, your chickens are more likely to get frostbite. Make sure your coop bedding is dry and you change it regularly. Solve any leaks or water problems immediately.
2. Minimize Disturbances
Handling a broody hen too much can really mess with her and make it harder for her to hatch her eggs.
Limit Movement:
Don’t move her frequently if she’s sitting on eggs. Move her only if she is not eating for 12-13 hrs and allow her to forage by giving her treats.
Make sure her nesting spot is quiet and steady to keep her relaxed.
Handle with Care:
If you have to hold her, be super gentle and calm so you don’t scare her or mess up her sitting. I have seen in some situation hens get stressed and stop sitting on their eggs if disturbed during brooding.
3. Supplement Heat If Needed
Use heaters when it’s super cold, but be smart and don’t use risky heating equipments like wood fire heaters and bulb heaters.
Use Safe Heat Sources:
A heat lamp can keep the coop warm, but make sure it’s put in safe so it doesn’t catch fire or get too hot.
Think about using radiant heaters or flat-panel heaters made for chicken coops, they’re safer. Space heaters are another best options as they cover a large area.
Avoid Overheating the Area:
Broody chickens stay warm if their nest is cozy. High temperatures in the coop can lead to erratic temperatures, which is not good for the chickens. So maintain a normal comfortable temperature inside the chicken coop.
By taking these measures, you can protect your broody hen from the challenges posed by extreme cold, ensuring her comfort and well-being throughout the winter.
Also read: Best Chicken Coop Heaters
What to Do If She’s Hatching Eggs?
Extra care is crucial for broody hens incubating eggs, especially in winter, to guarantee the health of both the mother hen and her chicks. Here’s the best way to handle the process:
1. Monitor Egg Development
Successful hatching depends on proper egg development. Doing regular check-ups can stop problems from happening.
Candle the Eggs After 7-10 Days:
Shine a small torch light or an egg candler directly through the eggshell to create a clear view of the inside.
See if you can spot any blood vessels or a dark embryo. You’ll see growth of blood vessels in fertile eggs, but non-fertile or dead ones will look clear or not change at all.
Remove Non-Developing Eggs:
Rotten eggs pose a contamination risk to good eggs. They may cause bacterial contamination to good eggs.
To avoid interfering with incubation, handle eggs carefully by removing the rotten ones and keeping back the developing inside the nesting box.
2. Prepare for Chicks
As the eggs near hatching, prepare yourself for the chicks.
Set Up a Chick Brooder:
Brooders provide a protected, warm, and enclosed environment for chicks to grow after hatching. Use a heat source (like a heat lamp) to keep them at 95°F (35°C) the first week, gradually lowering the temperature as they grow.
Provide Food and Water:
Provide chicks with the proper nutrition by feeding them pre-starter and starter feed in a chick feeder. Give them easy access to water by providing clean, shallow waterers to prevent drowning.
Monitor the Chicks for Chilling or Weakness:
Newly hatched chicks are highly susceptible to cold temperatures and need warmth. In winters, they need additional setup and initially need a closed brooding house.
Keep an eye out for signs of cold, like huddling, inactivity, or distress calls. If chicks appear weak, try warming them up and adding electrolytes or vitamins to their water to help them recover.
If you check on the eggs and get ready for chicks, you’ll have a suitable setup for them, even if it’s cold. Following these steps improves the chances of successful hatching and healthy chicks.
Conclusion
It’s very hard to care for a broody hen in winter because you need to keep her warm but also let her do her nesting job.
Hens get all broody in winter and forget to take care of themselves, like eating, drinking, and getting exercise. I usually keep high protein feed and electrolyte water near my broody hens.
I do not disturb them or move them to another place. It is best to provide comfort where they want to lay and sit on their eggs.
Keeping her coop warm, dry, and well-ventilated helps prevent frostbite and sickness. What she eats is really important for her health during brooding.
If she lays eggs, keep a close eye on them while they hatch. Checking egg condition by candling helps you to remove rotten eggs and keep healthy embryo developing eggs.
A brooder, heat source, proper food, and water are crucial for chicks to survive tin freezing winter.
Taking good care of a broody hen in winter keeps her comfy and safe, and helps your whole flock stay happy and healthy. Help her out by being kind and caring, and she’ll do great no matter what.
I hope this guide helps you to take care of your broody hen during the winter.
