7 weeks old, 43 overnight temp

[greginshasta]

Our 7 week old chicks moved out to their outdoor coop this week and they sleep at night in the tractor which has hardware cloth sides. The pen is just sitting on the soil, and the tractor is inside the pen.

Overnight temperatures are in the low 40's this week and Tweety is worried about them being cold.

I'm under the impression that at this age they are sufficiently feathered to not worry about the current temperatures.

I'm working on a larger enclosure they can live in for the winter, but I need to be certain that for the next few weeks this is not a big deal. Or is it...

Could someone confirm or correct me please?


On edit:
We have a couple barred rocks, a couple buff oringtons, a RIR, an australorp, 3 silver laced wyandottes and a little white critter we call angel. Not sure what breed.

 

[davecash]

mine are a month old and fare well in the night coldness

 

[BeckyLa]

You're edit shows you have 10 birds, right? As long as their tractor is not drafty and you're not having a bad wind along with the cold they should be just fine. They should be fully feathered by 7 weeks and there are enough of them that they will snuggle together and stay warm.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Boy, I don't know. I'd think you'd want more than just hardware cloth walls. They need some solid walls where they can get out of the breeze and it can hold some heat in. Other than that just make sure they have a roost where they can get up off the ground. The ground will suck the heat right out of them.

 

[Standard Hen]

I have four one month olds that I just purchased (my last for the season I swear!!!!!!) and I have them outside. darn cool here this morning too. I have so many different ages and grains back there I can't remember what is going on. Anyway, they to seem ok. I bedded their little coop good yesterday and threw some hay in. I don't usually get any this late in the season but I am becoming an ENABLER.