Chilly weather and chicks?

[Erinjmiller]

Hi all! I am quite new to this backyard chicken thing so please forgive my ignorance here. I have 7 girls - about 6 to 7 weeks old (a mix of ISA browns and Barred Rocks). I live in NC, where it is typically in the high 70s to mid 80s this time of year. My girls have been out in the coop and free ranging in my garden for the past 3 days now. The weather had perfect - warm and sunny - until today. We are supposed to get relentless rain all week and the lows are supposed to be in the upper 40s. This evening, the girls were all crying, so I assumed they were cold. They remained in the lower / run portion of the coop, and didn't want to go up in the upper/ nesting box section (plus the food and water are both below so if I closed them off in the upper portion, they won't have food & water). My husband believed they're cold, so we brought them back into the garage and put them in the 100 gallon trough they'd been in. However, they are now squawking louder than before. I have no idea what to do. I don't want them to get wet and chilly, but I don't want to stress them out too. What are your recommendations? Thank you so much!

 

[jlpierce45]

Is your coop free of drafts? If so, 6-7 week old chicks should be relatively feathered out, are they feathered? They will huddle for warmth and will be fine in the 40's in the coop so long as they are kept dry and out of drafts. If rain is getting in the coop/run to where they are getting wet, they could get chilled very easily. I would watch and see how the weather is going to turn out. Otherwise if they are dry, 40's with feathered chicks should be just fine!

 

[Buckeye Amy]

Agree!

 

[Caroline0615]

You can always install a heating lamp in the pen if it is necessary! We usually do that in the winter!

 

[rosemarythyme]

They were likely fussing because they're unused to rain. They're plenty old enough to stand a bit of rain, but I would've herded them into the coop and closed up for the night if they weren't going in on their own.