New to this

I have six chicks and they are four and a half weeks old. When I got them a couple of days ago they were still inside and they had a heat lamp. The temperatures in the day are mid nineties to high nineties and in the evenings the temps are high eighties to low nineties. Will they be okay without a lamp? I have them inside right now - but I have been taking them out to their pen we built, a couple of times each day and letting them run around. I'm staying with them while they are out. Also how long before I can leave them out in their coop. It's insulated and water tight. We have a 12x12 area that is completed shaded and another 8x8 that gets some sun. The pen is completely covered with netting. We occasionally get possums, but my dog quickly dispatches of any that make it into the yard. We have three large owls that nest about behind the house so we knew we would have to cover the pen. The only other problem we have is the dog. I've been trying to introduce the babies and he will come up and sniff them and check them over when I am holding them, but when I put them down in the pen he goes crazy. I thought his guardian instincts would take over, but not so sure. He is a Great Pyrenees and I am not sure whether he gets wants to play with them or if he thinks they are walking chicken nuggets. Either way - whether play or for food - his big paws would prove fatal for the little guys. Anyone have any insight - do dogs eventually get used to the chicks or is this a battle we will constantly fight. He's a big guy at 160 pounds. The black birds come and light in the yard and eat out of his dish and he doesn't bother them at all, but these baby chicks have definitely caught his attention. I was hoping that he would adjust and they could free range during the day with him watching them. Thanks

Yes, at those temps they are far past the need for heat.
They're ready for the coop if it's predator proof and you can lock them in there at night.
A GP is great defense but if he can't get into the chicken run and a predator climbs the fence he can't help.
ETA
You don't say where you live but if it is in North America, you have raccoons and several other predators.

I think all dogs are different. I have two and each took a few minutes to get used the the chicks, but they've never laid a paw or mouth on them. The German Shepherd will chase my rooster once in a while and could easily catch him if he wanted, but he always stays right behind him. Kind of like he's showing the roo who's boss, which is plenty fine with me. For your peace of mind I hope he gets along with them

I have seven dogs at my house a GSP, German Rott, two Standard Poodles and three chihuahuas, the GSP wich is my bird dog is highley trained from obedience to hunting and the Rott is obedience and K9 trained. They both lay out with my girls and has never chased or attacked them ever. The chihuahuas just yap at them then walk or run away if my Roo runs at them, the two poodles on the other hand wich belong to my brother are a different story, they try to chase and attack my girls every chance they get i have tried training them like i did with my GSP since they are supposebly bird dogs but to no avail i think there just to stuburn and hard headed to be trained i now just shoot them in the rump with a C02 BB hand gun wich seems to work when im out there with my girls. This morning the poodles got to close to my girls and my Rott charged them and knocked both of the poodles to the ground and stood over them as to say dont mess with my feathered friends lol, I think they will soon get the hint not to mess with my girls. Only predators that i have to deal with is a pesky Redtail Hawk that we cant do nothing about, the coyottees get ran off by my Rott and GSP.

We're in southern Alabama in an urban area. Between our house and our daughters we have about two and half acres. We have a privacy fence around about an acre. Other family members have another two and a half acres adjoining and part of it is still wooded. The rest of the area around us are city lots. I've not seen any raccoon but that doesn't mean there aren't any. The possums come out fairly often and when they come over the fence the dog is on it. The owls would be a problem, but we completely enclosed the run. We've had to put netting over the koi pond to keep them from going off with the fish. We see an occasional hawk and egrets so with the birds and possums we made sure to completely close every nook and cranny. The coop can also be closed down so if I put them out at night - even the dog couldn't get to them. He's big and he can dig a hole that could bury a VW bus so I worry more about him getting into the pen than predators. A predator would have to dig under and we buried a part of the fence and also went with boards around the entire perimeter that the fence is stapled to. But even that would be no match for the dog if he chooses to breech. Right now I go out when I take the chicks out and if he begins digging I scold him and that has been enough to stop him. He's only growled a time or two, but for the most part he runs the perimeter of the fence, occasionally he will just lay at the fence and watch and still others he runs and gets his front end down with his back end up in the air and his tail wagging. His behavior is so different I can't get a handle on whether he is wanting to play and be friends or whether he is ready to attack. If I hold one up to him he just noses it and sniffs, but when I carry them to the pen in a basket he is all over that basket trying to get a peek inside. I guess time will tell.

The only dog I've ever had an issue with so far (not saying it won't happen again in the future with a different breed) was a poodle who got loose while visiting the neighbors. Thankfully she found a piece of dead rabbit before she spotted my chickens so her mouth was full otherwise my chickies would have been nuggets to her.

How old is your GP? If he is under two years old he just wants to play with them because in his mind there just new toys to him. You can try setting up a electric wire around the perimiter of the coop, once he gets stung by that a couple times he will know to stay away from it unless needed.

To the OP. Trust me, whether you've seen them or not you have raccoons, weasels, mink, foxes, coyotes and bobcat. Raccoons are everywhere, even Chicago and New York City. Their original range is where you live.

Our Pyr is four - almost five. He doesn't bother the birds that fall out of their nest. He lets the Chihuahua from next door come through the fence and doesn't bother him at all. He lets the black birds eat from his food dish. He will not tolerate a squirrel or a possum or our grandson's lab. Other dogs he doesn't have an issue with - he doesn't bother cats. I am not sure why he is so fixated on the chicks. I was just outside with them in the pen and he was taking the wire fencing in his mouth and trying to pull it away from the fence post. I had to put a latch on the inside so when I come in I could latch it and I bought a 3 inch hook and eye - we have a slide fence bolt/lock on the outside. The way he was bounding against the gate I probably should have bought a larger latch for the inside. He's going to knock that one loose. When I came inside I put the babies in the coop. Even if he manages to breech the fence there is no way he can get inside the coop. The nest boxes both have secure latches as does the clean out door. The slide door is on a pulley system which we can lock down. I'm hoping he will get tired of this soon. On the plus side the fence has held against his bulk. If it holds him it could just about hold anything.