Hi All!
I'm considering moving my 6 week-old chickens outside to the coop full-time. They've been having outdoor day-time adventures since they were about 3 weeks old, and for the past week, they've been spending the days in their coop but coming back in the house into their brooder box at night. I haven't had a heat source on their brooder box for almost 2 weeks, but it currently stays about 65-70 F inside the house.
I'm in Northern California, and lately the max daytime temps have been anywhere from about 60-70 F, except for today, which was ~80 F, and tomorrow is supposed to be about 80 F again. The night-time temps have been around 50 F, and tonight is supposed to be ~54 F. The forecast says the night-time temps will get to mid-40s late next week for a few days.
The chickies make a lot of peeping as the sunsets, but also make a lot of noise and seem quite unhappy about going back in their brooder box, which is 4x2x2 ft. Though, they do get very quiet after a while and stay quiet pretty much through the night now.
I am not equipped to put a heat source in the henhouse part of their coop, so they would have to huddle for warmth. I don't think they're roosting overnight in their brooder box, so I'm not sure if they would stay on their roost in their henhouse overnight or go into the run and huddle on the floor, which is covered with a couple inches of mulch. I do have an inverted cardboard box with an entrance "door" inside the run that they could huddle inside of.
Anyway.... any opinions or advice? Thanks!
p.s. It looks like they have most of, if not all, their feathers... though Margy, the Buff Orpington, still has a touch of fuzz on her neck. I'm not 100% sure about this, since it's my first time having chickens.
I'm considering moving my 6 week-old chickens outside to the coop full-time. They've been having outdoor day-time adventures since they were about 3 weeks old, and for the past week, they've been spending the days in their coop but coming back in the house into their brooder box at night. I haven't had a heat source on their brooder box for almost 2 weeks, but it currently stays about 65-70 F inside the house.
I'm in Northern California, and lately the max daytime temps have been anywhere from about 60-70 F, except for today, which was ~80 F, and tomorrow is supposed to be about 80 F again. The night-time temps have been around 50 F, and tonight is supposed to be ~54 F. The forecast says the night-time temps will get to mid-40s late next week for a few days.
The chickies make a lot of peeping as the sunsets, but also make a lot of noise and seem quite unhappy about going back in their brooder box, which is 4x2x2 ft. Though, they do get very quiet after a while and stay quiet pretty much through the night now.
I am not equipped to put a heat source in the henhouse part of their coop, so they would have to huddle for warmth. I don't think they're roosting overnight in their brooder box, so I'm not sure if they would stay on their roost in their henhouse overnight or go into the run and huddle on the floor, which is covered with a couple inches of mulch. I do have an inverted cardboard box with an entrance "door" inside the run that they could huddle inside of.
Anyway.... any opinions or advice? Thanks!
p.s. It looks like they have most of, if not all, their feathers... though Margy, the Buff Orpington, still has a touch of fuzz on her neck. I'm not 100% sure about this, since it's my first time having chickens.
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