6-7 week old chicks- heat?

[hikerfrog99]

I live in SC. Although it is pretty warm during the day now we are having a couple of nights with temps in the 29-42 degrees. Not consistently but still. They are outside in a locked coop but I am concerned about warmth. I do not have electricity in the coop and I would like ideas how to keep them warm. They are ameracaunas and are fully feathered. I have older chickens and know about baby chicks but a little confused on juveniles.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’d relax. It sounds like your chicks are well acclimated.

I raise my chicks in a brooder in the coop from Day 1. One end of the brooder is kept warm but the other end cools off as it will. I’ve seen that far end frozen at times. Yeah, it can really cool off. When it’s that cold the chicks stay pretty close to the heat. But when it is just cool, they play in that far end a lot, just going back to the heat when they need to warm up. They get used to cooler temperatures and feather out faster.

A few year ago, I took chicks from that brooder when they 5 weeks old and put them in an unheated grow-out coop. The overnight lows were consistently in the mid 40’s. About three nights later the overnight low hit the mid 20’s. The chicks were fine. That grow-out coop had good draft protection on the floor where they were.

Your chicks are older than mine were and it sounds like they are well acclimated. As long as they have decent draft protection they should be fine.

 

[conny63malies]

I turned off the heat to my 2-3 week olds yesterday. The layers are in with some broilers and they produce plenty heat. Ducks the same thing, 7/8 are over 300 grams and only Derpy Duck is under 200gram. But even with 170gram s/he holds up fine. They are in the house though. There the temps never go under 65F. But once I get my 3x4 up by the house and this storm passes they go in the coop with a heat lamp. Ducks are just so messy.

 

[hikerfrog99]

I’d relax. It sounds like your chicks are well acclimated.

I raise my chicks in a brooder in the coop from Day 1. One end of the brooder is kept warm but the other end cools off as it will. I’ve seen that far end frozen at times. Yeah, it can really cool off. When it’s that cold the chicks stay pretty close to the heat. But when it is just cool, they play in that far end a lot, just going back to the heat when they need to warm up. They get used to cooler temperatures and feather out faster.

A few year ago, I took chicks from that brooder when they 5 weeks old and put them in an unheated grow-out coop. The overnight lows were consistently in the mid 40’s. About three nights later the overnight low hit the mid 20’s. The chicks were fine. That grow-out coop had good draft protection on the floor where they were.

Your chicks are older than mine were and it sounds like they are well acclimated. As long as they have decent draft protection they should be fine.

3 sides are closed off in the coop. The front is fenced with the door. I'm thinking just to put some plastic over the fencing in the front only in the evening and removing it during the day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[hikerfrog99]

Sounds like a plan.