Am I going to freeze my chicks?

[Unsworth]

Hello,

I have raised chickens for years but not since I moved to this cold climate. (Michigan) I have 22 chicks in my basement. I have expanded their home to big boxes but they need to get out of there the sooner the better. I have a very tight (safe) chicken house ready for them but it is still getting down to freezing at night. If I put my two heat lamps out there will that be enough to keep them warm enough? It will not be drafty. They would be about four or five weeks old. I have never had to deal with cold weather like this before.

 

[junebuggena]

How big is the coop? It's very likely that even one heat lamp in there would make things too warm. I moved 4 week old chicks out to the grow-out coop in January. They had been off their heat source for about a week, they were used to our normal temps of about 40*. The following night, we got a freak cold snap and temps dropped to 16 degrees. The chicks were fine.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed, if they have been properly hardened off, they will not need any outside heat at that age.

 

[Unsworth]

The chicken house is about 8 X10 feet. You can walk in it. I think the heat would dissipate from the lamps quickly but I thought if they needed a spot they could stay warm in they would at least have that.

 

[chickens really]

I just hung the one lamp last year and I had 33 Chicks....They all huddled under the one lamp...Do what makes you feel happy.....They will be fine nestled in the bedding under the lamp.....
I just moved my Broody Hen and 7 Chicks to the out side coop/Run Brooder today and they will be fine....My Hen is a Bantam and the Chicks she hatched are huge Orpington , Brahma , Ameruacana crosses.......Too big to hide under Mom now......


Best wishes......


Cheers!

 

[junebuggena]

The chicken house is about 8 X10 feet. You can walk in it. I think the heat would dissipate from the lamps quickly but I thought if they needed a spot they could stay warm in they would at least have that.

If you're really worried about it, you can give them a huddle box. The smaller space holds in their body heat for more efficient snuggling.