Brought my 5 week EEs in

[ICB42]

So we have a mixed flock... We have 4 EES and one barred rock EE mixed roo.( our neighbors don't care they like the roo we use to have one) so now that it finally is getting cold (for like! 3 days) and we brought them in because last cold snap we lost one. But we discovered last night we have some rats in the house. I was wondering if anyone is paranoid. I have my daughters old baby monitor so I can hear them, all the lights on and making sure I won't lose anymore! Is anyone else really paranoid?? I am just paranoid because we have Had such a rough journey being chicken owners. We have lost 2 flocks one to a dog that we rescuerd (have since found her a good home) and the last one to a predator, we assume it was a possum. We have a heat lam in the coop but I wasn't sure if they could withstand about 40- 50 degre weather, can they?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry you have had such problems with your chickens, may this year be better to you.
At five weeks you could run a heat lamp at night, and see during the day, slowly weaning them off as they get older, I personally would run it for a couple of weeks yet or until I see they don't sleep under it anymore.

 

[azygous]

Bringing the chicks indoors because you're paranoid of losing some is not rational. You are actually inhibiting your chicks' ability to harden against the cold as they develop. Now you are going to have to re-acclimate them to the cold when you were doing the right thing in the first place.

Here's what you need to understand about chicks and heat. They only need one spot under which to warm themselves. I liken it to a campfire. It doesn't matter what temperature it is in the surrounding space. Picture a broody hen with her babies. Those chicks spend very little time actually hiding underneath their mama. From the time they're just two days old, those chicks are running all over the place, only scooting back under mama hen when they begin to chill. The broody doesn't heat the surrounding space, only that spot directly beneath her.

Your paranoia is actually trying to tell you that you may still have a predator vulnerable coop, though. You need to go over your coop and run with a magnifying glass and find any small cracks that rats can get through, and snakes or owls, too. After you've made certain your coop is predator proof and has no dangerous drafts, then you can talk yourself out of being paranoid as it being a residual reaction to losing a chick previously. You don't say how you lost it, but I'm assuming it may have just been sick or failed to thrive. If you lost it to something eating it, you really need to make sure the flaw in your coop design is corrected before moving chicks in.

 

[ICB42]

I brought them in because of the cold. The rats are actually in our house. But The coop is secure, and I'm positive that nothing is going to be able to get into the coop, however I am paranoid about the chickens period, We have had so many right at the point of laying, and then getting killed! It has been a learning experience for us for sure. We have fixed the coop and made i secure, and no longer have the dog that killed our chickens, only because she was smart enough to go around and around that coop and to push at it to get in.

We have learned our lesson and we are doing whatever we can to keep them safe! Thank you guys for answering all of my many questions I have asked over the past year!

 

[azygous]

If I had rats in the house, I think I'd be tempted to move into the coop!

 

[ICB42]

If I had rats in the house, I think I'd be tempted to move into the coop!

haha I feel the same way, we didn't know that we had them until after we brought the chicks inside!!But we aren't gonna be here long, Looking for a new house with A TON more property! this way we can have more than just our chickens, and we can get more of them!