2 Gorgeous Brown Isas from Sydney - hello to all

[chookwhisperer]

Hi everyone,
I am new to chickens and have 2 6wk old brown isas. Looking forward to any advice. Currently just feeding them Chicken starter pellets, should I be branching out from that? Also coming into winter I am tucking a towel around them every evening - it is about 12 degrees in the night. Do I need to do that? They are in a coup and at night they are closed in a nesting box which I suppose is about a meter square. Just worried they will freeze to death..?
Thanks to all advice regarding the above and anything else!!!

 

[Kevin565]

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Hi and from Ohio. So glad you joined. If it is going to be that cold, they will need a heat lamp. At six weeks old, they should be kept at least 55-60 degrees.

 

[chookwhisperer]

Thanks! Fortunately I'm talking celsius and not fahrenheit and so they are probobly just warm enough - I have had them for 2 weeks with no heating but it is starting to get colder - probobly down to 60F min at the coldest time in the morning like 4am. So maybe I should leave the blanket in for them. And if it gets colder again a heat lamp too..

 

[Fred's Hens]

Your chicks will be fine.

 

[chookwhisperer]

Thanks all !!

I have a sliding door on the chooks bedroom that they walk out of and down the ramp to their wire coup/run. Would it be practical when the weather is warmer to leave the sliding door slightly ajar overnight so they can let themselves out in the morning? I have put a little curtain over it so at night they go in themselves to a dark bedroom and then later I shut them in by closing the door. The coup is completely enclosed with wire (there is wider wire on the base of the coup so foxes can't get in). Or should they be closed in to their bedroom completely at night.
ALSO should I have food in their bedroom so they can nibble overnight? When I have done this they generally just tip it out but maybe that's just darkness for you!

 

[Aeropennchick]

Hello and

from Southern PA!

I'd say if you are confidant that their run is predator proof, you can leave the door to the coop ajar or open - I have read posts from several members who do that (my run is NOT, so they get locked up every night) They don't need food or water while they sleep. If you still want to keep the food in the coop, to cut down on mice and things visiting, you can hang the feeder up off the ground or attach it to the wall.

 

[The Red Rooster]

 

[greymane]