Am i being a big baby?

[silkiechick05]

Quote:
I live just south of Fort Worth

And they are silkies... kind of explains my fear of putting them out in the elements!

they are so darned cute!

 

[Bedste]

I have chickens ranging from 10-30 weeks. I live in Conroe Texas... It is getting chilly at night so I put a RED heat lamp in their coop and I leave it on all night long. On the nights that it is up in the 60s I leave it off.... but since 1/2 of them are laying eggs now, it seems to be encouraging them to continue to lay even though it is red which allows them to sleep.


I say get them out of the garage but let them have the heat lamp unless it is at least in the 60s..... We have such HOT summers that it is ok if we are a little wimpy and warm and toasty in the winter and grouchy in the August heat.

 

[Akane]

They don't need the lamp but if you just flick it off they are going to be very upset and a bit chilled because they are used to having heat. You'll either have to raise the lamp or change the bulb to lower wattage. Even after mine don't need heat I usually leave them with a 40w red bulb until I move them to the coop because they are not used to complete darkness at night and will scream about it or even fly into the sides of the brooder if you have fully feathered chicks of a flighty breed.

 

[chixie]

my silkies are in a coop now and have been for a couple of weeks now(they are 9 weeks old)...I keep 2 heat lamps in there so if they get cold they can go snuggle under it(they do use them at night)

 

[kelidei]

I am in Northern Illinois and we have been having cool weather for a while. I have one coop with 9 month olds and the only thing in there are a couple of radiant heating panels above their roost. I also have it plugged into a thermostat set to go on when temps are below freezing--- they won't really raise the air temp too much but my thinking is that it gives them a place to go and warm up--- I am worried about combs and wattles--- and when we get those wind chills of -10 to -20. In the other coop I have 15 week olds and they do have heat lamps along with the panel heaters but I am weaning them from the heat lamps--- everything is plugged into a thermostat so goes on and off at whatever temp I set--- they too will end up just with the panel heaters--- I don't know if a panel heater would work in your application but it is something that may be helpful---especially when paired with a thermostat.

 

[teach1rusl]

Lots of different advice, so here's my 2 cents. Start weaning them off of the heat lamp...at least for daytime use.
Mine are the same age as yours (although mine aren't silkies), and when it's cold out (we're having highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s), I can feel them shivering a bit when I'm snuggling one on my lap, so I know how that makes you feel protective. It would be harmful IMO just to say "No more heatlamp for you!!" (plus you'd sound like the soup nazi). But I'd definitely start moving it further away, or reducing the wattage until they're okay during the day and you're just using it at night or on REALLY cold days. At least for this winter, I will continue to use my lamp when it drops below freezing (despite the fact that some say it's harmful to "coddle" them so). Next winter, when they're full grown, it may or may not be another story... I am curious as to why they're in your garage rather than a coop???

 

[greathorse]

They are in the garage for Pete's sake how cold can it get in there at night with nothing. 50 degrees?

 

[Warfrost]

They just sound spoiled. I bet they would adjust quickly if you took the heat off...even if only during the day=)

 

[Soccer Mom]

Hey, I'm just south of Fort Worth too. Like I said, mine are getting a heat lamp at night only and they're doing great, but they aren't silkies. I've never had silkies and don't know if the feathers keep them as warm. I suggest offering them a heat lamp and watching to see if they huddle under it or roam around. If they don't huddle under it, then they probably don't need it.

And I should add that I would actually wait until after this weekend. It is supposed to be very cold.

 

[ginaseven]

My babies will be 8 weeks old in 3 days. It has been in the 30's here during the day, mid 20's at night, and very windy. I turn one heat lamp on in the coop at night, and open the pop door during the day. They are in and out of the coop all day, no heat. I figure they go in to get out of the wind. No one seems cold and they freely come out into the run. My coop temp at night stays above freezing but just barely.