Advice needed. Chicks hatching in coop during freezing cold weather

[Eggscited]

Our two partridge silkie chickens are co-brooding a clutch of 12 eggs. So far, 7 gorgeous chicks have hatched over the past week. Unfortunately we lost one baby, but 6 of them are running around in the coop eating and drinking and scooting under the hen. One mama is still sitting on the nest, and the other is tending to the babies. The weather forecast for tomorrow night is predicting 19 degree weather and our coop is not insulated. Although we'd planned to just let these great new moms "do their thing", we are wondering if we should put a heat lamp in the coop when the temps drop. Worried about fire hazard, and overheating, but also worried that it will be too cold for the fragile newborns. Has anyone got experience with hatching chicks in such cold weather??

 

[maureen9962]

I live in the northern most part of VT right on the Canadien border. Brrr... If mama is doing her thing I think all will be fine. If your coop is not insulated depending on the size of it, your heat lamp may not do much amyway. If yo can place it safely and you will sleep better it would not do any harm though. Good luck. Chickens are tougher than we like to think!

 

[Eggscited]

Thanks so much, Maureen. I am amazed at how well the hens and rooster have done in the cold this past winter, but their chicks are so tiny and I really don't want them to freeze. I've hatched eggs in an incubator from a hatchery (for school) many times, but this is the first year we've had our own chickens brooding. It is so different from watching them hatch in the incubator.