Is it too cold for 4-wk old chicks to move outside with a heat lamp when night temps are mid 40's??

[ILoveFarms]

Thanks! I let them in the coop with the heat lamp, which is positioned in the middle. They are so much happier with all the room to play in. They've already located their water and food and have discovered bugs.

Thank you all for the advice!

 

[Tamara119]

That looks good! If they are really huddling up under the lamp then they are cold and you might want to lower it. But they look well-feathered already so I'm sure they'll be happy.

 

[Blooie]

Well, I certainly can't tell you when to move your chicks out, but maybe I can ease your mind just a little bit about how fragile they are. At 3.5 weeks, I took the heat lamp off my chicks in the brooder. The brooder was in the house, and oy, the DUST! Our coop wasn't finished yet (note to self - coop first, chicks second!) but I had to prepare to get them the heck out of Ken's office. That helped them get the idea that nighttime is dark and the only thing to do is sleep. It jump started their natural day/night cycle. It also kicked feather production into high gear. When they were 4 weeks old I started cracking the window in the room they were in. The air from the window didn't blow directly down on them, but it did put a distinct little chill in the air.

At 5.5 weeks, coop unfinished, they moved outside. I put a wireless thermometer out there and promptly spent the entire night worrying about them and jumping out of bed to go out and check on them. The thermometer in the coop read 20 degrees that first night. I had a heat lamp out there for them......they slept in a huddle in front of the pop door instead of under it. The second night I checked on them just once. They were back in a pile in front of the pop door, nowhere near the light again. I was freezing out there, jumping out of my nice warm bed like a fool and running out into the cold in my jammies and boots - they were just fine. I went back to bed and stayed there for the rest of that night. The next day the heat lamp came out. I wasn't risking a fire, and they weren't even using it. That night it snowed. It snowed many more times after they moved out of the house on April 1st. We got our last snowfall June 6th.

We didn't lose a single chick. They even went out into their run despite the snow on the ground and rummaged around for stuff to nibble on. The day I picked those chicks up from the post office it was minus 19 degrees. (another note to self - order chicks for delivery later in the year!) We had almost two weeks of those temps before Chick Arrival Day, and for another week afterwards. Then it warmed up into the teens and 20s for daytime highs. Daytime highs when I put them out hovered right around 40, lows in the 20s. They thrived. Last little bits of down were replaced with thicker down and adult feathers, they ate well, they were in and out of the coop all of the time, and they remained hale and healthy. If they got chilly they huddled together for a bit and as soon as they warmed up they were back to playing, eating and exploring, just like they would do under Mama Chicken. Now they are bright, inquisitive, and laying great. Yes, we need to take care of them when we get them, and yes, they are adorable and we want to mother them like crazy. But in my opinion, for what it's worth, the kindest thing we can do for them is to let them be chickens.

I would think that waiting longer just ends up with them going outside to live when the temps are even lower than they are currently.....it's fall, and it isn't going to get much warmer. The only time I ended up with chicks with pasty butt was when they were in the house, so I can't address that, but I agree we should always watch for it with temperature changes. I hope that helps you decide what to do. As I said, I can't make that decision - all I can do is tell you what I did and hopefully make you a little less nervous.



Two or three days after they went outside to live.

 

[Blooie]

Well, that worked out well...took me so long to write my comment that by the time I was done you had already taken care of it....so in those famous words, "Never mind."

 

[ILoveFarms]

Thank you Tamara119! And a BIG thank you Blooie for your wonderful story! I couldn't help but laugh at your 2nd post, you are funny. But that definitely proves how hardy chickens can really be! My chicks are LOVIN their new space. I notice they snuggle up in the corners of the coop and not under the heat lamp. I do notice though, the pine shavings right under the heat lamp are sparse- so they are using it by going there often enough. Two nights down, so far so good. My older hens look down at them from their temporarily fenced-in shelf with looks that say, "Who are you, and why are you in our coop? And why are "we" the ones blocked off?! As if it's not enough that we are molting!" Poor girls. They are the only three left from my last flock, so they're a little out-numbered.

 

[ILoveFarms]

Blooie, Love your snowy picture!

 

[MrsBachbach]

   Thank you Tamara119! And a BIG thank you Blooie for your wonderful story! I couldn't help but laugh at your 2nd post, you are funny. But that definitely proves how hardy chickens can really be! My chicks are LOVIN their new space. I notice they snuggle up in the corners of the coop and not under the heat lamp. I do notice though, the pine shavings right under the heat lamp are sparse- so they are using it by going there often enough. Two nights down, so far so good. My older hens look down at them from their temporarily fenced-in shelf with looks that say, "Who are you, and why are you in our coop? And why are "we" the ones blocked off?!  As if it's not enough that we are molting!" Poor girls. They are the only three left from my last flock, so they're a little out-numbered.

That's not unusual at all. If they are all under the lamp, it's too cold in the house! They usually hang out around the perimeter of the light. Chicks piling up in corners is usually not a good idea. It's possible one or two can suffocate. I always had to go unpile mine after dark to prevent that from happening. I don't know why they do that. I guess that's the reason cardboard brooder boxes are made round. Maybe some chicken wire nailed in front of the corners would prevent that.

 

[LanceTN]

They pile in the corner because it makes them feel safe and allows them to get warmer.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Chicks piling up in corners is usually not a good idea. It's possible one or two can suffocate. I always had to go unpile mine after dark to prevent that from happening. I don't know why they do that. I guess that's the reason cardboard brooder boxes are made round. Maybe some chicken wire nailed in front of the corners would prevent that.

I've noticed mine pile into the corners if I turn the light off all at once, but If I use the dimmer in small increments over a period of about an hour (mimicking a more natural "dusk"), they all end up under the EcoGlow.

 

[ILoveFarms]

Update: They are all doing great! They sleep all over the place now. They are 6 weeks old at this point. Still using a heat lamp due to it getting in the low 30's at night now. I plan to winter-proof their coop VERY soon! By noon it's in the 50's/60's, so I let them out in their run when I'm home. They love it.