Do 4 m/o silkies need to acclimate? It’s 0C here.

[905silkies]

TLDR: We’ve been raising 4 silkies in our basement. They’re now 4 months old and the permanent coop/run is finally ready. I’m in Southern Ontario and we’re still getting overnight lows of 0 to -2 Celsius. Daytime highs 9-13 degrees. I’m concerned about just putting them in the coop without acclimating. Will the temperature drops shock their little systems? I’d say our basement is 15 degrees. Any advice? Thanks in advance!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Four month olds should be able to handle those temps with no problem.
To make yourself feel better, put them out on a colder day and back inside at night for a day or two before going out permanently.

 

[905silkies]

Four month olds should be able to handle those temps with no problem.
To make yourself feel better, put them out on a colder day and back inside at night for a day or two before going out permanently.

Thanks so much. We took them outside yesterday for a couple hours and it was 4-6C. They seemed fine! Will try a full day mid-week when the temps go up a bit more.

 

[Battlepants]

0C really isn't that bad for many chicken breeds, and it sounds like silkies are actually pretty cold hardy. As long as your coop is dry and properly ventilated, I'm expecting them to group up in a big puff ball but otherwise be just fine.

But yea, personally I would try to ease them into going from a nice home temperature to near freezing. Is it possible to put them in the garage or something similar for a couple days to get some exposure to the cold, but not quite the full on exposure yet?

 

[905silkies]

0C really isn't that bad for many chicken breeds, and it sounds like silkies are actually pretty cold hardy. As long as your coop is dry and properly ventilated, I'm expecting them to group up in a big puff ball but otherwise be just fine.

But yea, personally I would try to ease them into going from a nice home temperature to near freezing. Is it possible to put them in the garage or something similar for a couple days to get some exposure to the cold, but not quite the full on exposure yet?

Yep! We’re going to do some garage time and monitored coop time until we’re past the last frost. It’s snowing here?!