I am in Northern Ohio and picked up day old chicks mid December. We had a nasty, nasty, wet, frigid, windy winter, but when they were 7 weeks old and feathered in, they went out to their coop with NO HEATLAMP. Never once did I find them huddled together trying to keep warm. Not once. Until the run was built they went through a floor pop door to the area beneath the coop (I call it the lower run), even on the worst days. I did staple up some heavy plastic on 2 1/2 sides of the lower run to block most of the frigid wind, but that's been down now for nearly a month. I do use the Deep Litter Method, so I am assuming that helped to keep them a little warmer than they would have been, but the thermometer inside the coop versus the one outside the coop only ever differed by 2 degrees.
Oh, and the two 6 month old laying hens (Marans) I picked up in February and put in the coop with the 7 chicks (after 30 day quarantine) both laid nearly an egg a day even through those winter months. So they must not have been too uncomfortable!
I am a firm believer in NOT coddling them too much, as I feel it makes them healthier and stronger if they have to work for their comfort a little bit. With that being said, though, I did make them warm oatmeal for breakfast on more than one occasion this winter! They're just too beautiful to not baby them once in awhile.
Oh, and the two 6 month old laying hens (Marans) I picked up in February and put in the coop with the 7 chicks (after 30 day quarantine) both laid nearly an egg a day even through those winter months. So they must not have been too uncomfortable!
I am a firm believer in NOT coddling them too much, as I feel it makes them healthier and stronger if they have to work for their comfort a little bit. With that being said, though, I did make them warm oatmeal for breakfast on more than one occasion this winter! They're just too beautiful to not baby them once in awhile.
