How many people keep their chicks outdoors? [IMAGES]

I have 3 six day old chicks housed in an outdoor coop/brooder at the moment. I'm keeping them on my covered front porch for the time being to keep them out of the wind and rain, but it has been getting in the 30s-40s at night and 60s-70s during the day. They seem to spend all their time in their "Mama Heating Pad" cave, so I was a bit concerned that they're too cold - but they're always very quiet! If they aren't eating or drinking, they're hanging out very quietly in their cave. I've always heard unhappy chicks will be noisy chicks and that's certainly not the case here, so should I assume they're feeling okay? What do you all think?

Here is their coop. I have a blanket pinned over the wire side at night to keep out wind. I pull it up during the day to give them a bit more light. They have their feeder, a water bucket with four nipples drilled into the bottom, and a feather duster to simulate sitting beneath a mother hen. They actually seem to like that occasionally. In the corner you can see their heating pad cave.



Made basically the same as in Blooie's original thread with a chicken wire cave, the Sunbeam heating pad set to the highest setting (6), with a Press-n-Seal wrapped towel draped over the top.



They seem pretty happy to me...

This is mine built into the coop. How much it is wrapped depends on the time of year. In the winter it’s wrapped pretty tightly but I’ve kept chicks out here when it was well below freezing on the outside.

As long as yours are eating and drinking they are doing fine.

Here's how you can tell if your chicks are normal and feeling okay.

When you suddenly appear and they notice you, what do they do?

If they dart out of their cave like little cuckoo birds in a clock and run around, they are perfectly normal.

If, on the other hand, they remain inside their cave, huddled so close together they seem like one single chick, then I'd say they are probably cold. That can be remedied by increasing the setting on the pad or squishing down the cave frame so it's certain to come into direct contact with their backs without them needing to stretch up to their full height as they're standing.