My 8 week chick wanted to get out so I let her out in 43 degree weather which is cold for me. Is it too cold for her ? What signs do chicks when they're cold ?
Sabrina, I took this photo when the outside temperature was 4 degrees above zero Fahrenheit. I always leave the pop door open and let them decide whether to go out or not. As long as a cold wind is not blowing and there is not snow on the ground, mine always choose to go out.
My chickens generally don’t go out in the snow when they wake up to it. But after a couple of days some will generally go out and walk around. I’ve had chickens go out to forage the tops of weeds and dead grass in 9” of snow. They also went over to check out the compost pile. This 1” snow fell during the day. Since they were already out and it was a gradual change, they never bothered to go in.
Your concern is that your chick is only 8 weeks old. My chicks are raised in a large brooder in the coop where one end is kept warm but the other end can cool off a lot. When it is below freezing there might be ice on the cold end, but the warm end is toasty. Mine play all over that brooder and get used to cold. I think that is where Aart was coming from with that question. How well is your chick acclimated?
I’ve had chicks less than 6 weeks old go through nights with lows in the mid 20’s Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. They had decent wind protection and really good ventilation. I did not put a thermometer in there to see how cold it actually was but with that ventilation I’d think it was in the mid 20’s. That’s not exactly your situation but it’s the closest I can come from my experience that I can remember. I normally let mine into the grow-out run at six weeks and let them roam with the main flock at 8 weeks so I’m sure some of my fall-raised chicks have been out roaming around in pretty cold weather but I can’t remember the coldest temperature that I’ve done that. After six weeks it’s just not something I worry about or even think of. Broody hens with much younger chicks don’t worry about it either, but a broody hen can warm them up when they need it. That’s a different situation.
I can’t remember ever seeing a chick over six weeks old act cold. If a cold wind is blowing they will get out of the wind. My adults don’t like a really cold wind, one strong enough to ruffle feathers. I’d expect a cold 8 week old to hunker down out of the wind and fluff up its feathers to trap air in the down for insulation. That’s what the adults do when they are roosting in cold weather. If you have more than one they would probably huddle together to share body heat. If a young chick is cold they will give a very plaintive peep, really heart-rending, just hearing it you know something is wrong. I don’t know if an 8 week old would still do that, but it might.
I personally don’t think you have anything at all to worry about with an 8 week old chick in the low 40’s as long as it can get out of the wind if it wants to. Most chicks should be fully feathered at about 5 weeks and capable of handling colder temperatures that the low 40’s, but there is always the question of moving them from a tropical climate to a truly cold one. That can be rough on me.
