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In the Brooder
Ok so my 5 wk old chicks have been spending the last few days in their enclosed run. Temps are in the 80s but I’ve still been bringing them inside at night in their brooder box but had thought about letting them stay the night in the coop tonight since it’ll only go down to 60. However, we just had a nasty rain storm and I tried to go get the chicks and at least put them in the coop to stay dry, but they’d wedged themselves into the one area of the run I couldn’t get to. I thought “oh well, it’s a covered area so they won’t get wet” and went inside to get myself out of the rain. Came back out to check on them just now and they’re all huddled by the door in the one spot in the whole run that is not covered by a roof! They’re wet, although not terribly soaked. I grabbed them all and locked them in the dry coop for the rest of the storm. Do I need to do anything else? Guess I thought they’d know enough to stay under cover even if they haven’t figured out that they can go in The coop yet. Also, when is it safe to keep them in the coop overnight? I feel they’re ready but then I read things saying to wait a while longer. They’re nearly fully feathered and the temps go into the high 50s at night now. No heat in the coop but I imagine they stay another 10 degrees warmer than outside temps in there.
