Seven week old pullets - getting down in the 40's next week

[CarolinaCoop]

We have 8 seven week old SL wyandottes. They are in a pen in our coop. It is supposed to get down in the 40's next week at night - should we put a heat lamp in? Help!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They should be fine as I'm assuming they are mostly feathered, and can huddle together if they need to.

 

[CarolinaCoop]

Thanks! They are mostly feathered in and already sleep all together - I was just worried about them. Looks like 49 degrees over night and the whole coop/henhouse is in a sheltered spot on the side of a mountain.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I do understand that, I have been known to go out at night with the flashlight to check on my kids, head and heart can sometimes get confused, one thing chickens are good at is staying warm.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

As long as they are dry and out of the wind they should be fine. Mine were out in those temps by 5 weeks.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've put 4 and 5 week olds out in spring when nights get in the 30's. Once well feathered they are wearing the down coat they need for such mild cold spells. Birds should be of sufficient size (body mass) for full on winter- days in 30's and nights below 0F.

 

[Blooie]

When I put last year's chicks out they were 5.5 weeks old, on April 1st. The temps got up to the 20s during the day. I put a heat lamp out there for them, but the silly birds preferred to huddle together over by the pop door and nowhere near the lamp. It was that way the first night out, and the second. So the morning of the third day I took the heat lamp out. If they weren't going to use it, I wasn't risking a coop fire and raising my electric bill. That night it snowed. We didn't get our last snowfall until June 6th. They thrived! Then I ended up with a broody hatched chick who got his feet wet at the waterer and they got frostbitten. I brought him in the house for treatment and when he was better and stronger he went back out, brooder and all, to the coop where it was still below zero outside. He had Mama Heating Pad and a straw cave for shelter, but he was seldom in it - he was usually running around all over the coop and the run and just dashing under MHP for a quick warmup.

Now I start chicks outside in the run under Mama Heating Pad and a cave. Our chicks did just great! Raised 3 batches of them that way, and didn't lose a single chick or even have any signs of distress in them despite daytime temps in the teens and twenties, and at one point when the 3rd batch was a week old, a blizzard, 60 mph winds, and a power outage. If yours are 7 weeks old they should be just fine. They are already out in the coop so without you even knowing it they've been preparing for the colder temps simply by being exposed to daily temperature changes and experiencing normal day/night cycles. If you put a heat lamp out there now, I think you'd find that you'd simply disrupt that natural preparation process. Providing shelter from winds and precip are all you need to do. They'll do the rest.

 

[CarolinaCoop]

Thanks so much for all the reassurance. Every day they are getting bigger and bigger and I am getting more attached to them!
I will not be so worried now - they are well sheltered and completely dry (unless they are trying to step in their waterer!). I sure love this website - so much experience right at your fingertips!