Awkward timing - chicks to coop in winter

[Wisewillow]

With winter so close, when can I move our 4 chicks to the coop?
October in the PNW is cold- low 50s daytime and 40s at night. I hadn’t planned on starting chicks in the Fall, but circumstances led us to get babies in September. They are 50/50 feathers and fluff. Will their huddled bodies provide enough combined heat to keep them healthy? They’re pretty comfortable indoors- not under a heater, just ambient house temp of 62-65.
The coop is small with a fully enclosed yard around it.

 

[AltonaAcres]

How old are they? I usually wait until my birds are fully feathered before moving them outdoors. Could you put a heat source in the coop for the chilly nights?

 

[feathermaid]

You want to get them acclimated to the outdoors asap. Have you let them free range in your yard to start building immunities and experience cooler temps?

You can put them to the coop at any age and any time of year with the proper setup, mainly having a heat source for very young chicks. I've brooded 2 wk old chicks outside in the coop with a Mama Heating Pad with day temps ranging in the 50-60s and nights in 30-40s. With this type of exposure they feather quickly and no longer need heat by 4 weeks.

If you're not comfortable running an extension cord to the coop for a heating pad, at least during chilly nights, you can build a huddle box or wool hen. That will help them collect body heat and stay warm all night, you just might have to show them how to use it. I wouldn't recommend a heat lamp in the coop. Once they're fully feathered, those feathers are great insulation and will be enough to keep them warm in your climate.

 

[Wisewillow]

What is a wool hen?

You want to get them acclimated to the outdoors asap. Have you let them free range in your yard to start building immunities and experience cooler temps?

You can put them to the coop at any age and any time of year with the proper setup, mainly having a heat source for very young chicks. I've brooded 2 wk old chicks outside in the coop with a Mama Heating Pad with day temps ranging in the 50-60s and nights in 30-40s. With this type of exposure they feather quickly and no longer need heat by 4 weeks.

If you're not comfortable running an extension cord to the coop for a heating pad, at least during chilly nights, you can build a huddle box or wool hen. That will help them collect body heat and stay warm all night, you just might have to show them how to use it. I wouldn't recommend a heat lamp in the coop. Once they're fully feathered, those feathers are great insulation and will be enough to keep them warm in your climate.

 

[feathermaid]

It's an up-side-down box with a large doorway and some strips of wool or fleece attached and hanging down inside to sort of replicate a mother hen. The fabric touches the chicks and collects and distributes body heat and keep chicks nice and cozy. I'll see if I can find a good link later...

 

[Morrigan]

I think you can put them outside. Depending on their age, I would either put a heat source, like a heating pad or plate, or a huddle box, with them. Make sure there is plenty of straw or shavings for them to snuggle into. It looks like they are protected from drafts and moisture in your set-up, which is important. I would also check on them a couple of times the first night, to make sure they are adjusting well. Odds are, they will love the freedom and new experience of being outside.

As a frame of reference, this year, I put my chicks in an outdoor brooder (a converted rabbit hutch) at one day old -- literally as soon as they had dried off in the incubator. They had a Binsea heating plate to sleep under and the hutch was insulated on three sides, with a towel loosely draped over the last side at night. Day time temps were in the 70s, with nighttime temps the low 40s.

They are now a week old and doing great. Starting at 3 days old, they would be out from under the plate at the crack of dawn and happily scratching and pecking around the brooder in 50 degree temperatures. As long as they could duck under the heat plate now and then, they were fine.

 

[Compost King]

I bet you chicks do fine but to be on the safe side I would add a jug full of hot water for them to cling to. I am finding that chicks once half feathered can handle cold better than advertised. I have mine at 3.5 weeks out tonight and we are going down to 39 degrees just before the sun rises.