Very Cold Weather and Young Pullets

[Turnips]

Hello,

I am a first-time chicken parent and am looking for advice on transitioning my 10 EE pullets outside. They are currently 4.5 weeks old and all look fully feathered except for one. I live in mid-Michigan and the weather has been ranging from the low 20s during the day and below 10 degrees at night. I've been brooding them inside my home office, but with working remote and everything, they are getting too noisy and too stinky to keep in the house.

I have an unheated garage and a chicken coop heating plate and heated waterer. Will my girls be okay hanging out in the garage during the day? How cold is too cold for them?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Garage should be fine, period (no need to bring them back inside). They need protection from drafts more than ambient warmth at this point, so the garage walls suit that purpose. Also since it's cooler in there this will help them start transitioning to outdoor temperatures, especially since you have a heat plate so they can choose to warm up or not to their liking. They're at a good age for that.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Theyll be fine in there permanently until you're ready to move them to the coop. I've had 1 day old babies in the coop (with a heat plate of course) in whether in the low teens. Like said above, as long as its draft free and they have heat, theyll be fine.

 

[Turnips]

Thank you both! I have them out there now, and they seem to be loving it