Heating?

[hbchicknmama]

Hi everyone,
I am in Southern California by the beach and will be putting our chicks outside in about a month-5 weeks. Can anyone give me a good idea of what temps are ok without alternative heat for chicks? Our coop isn't super close to a power source so I'm trying to figure that out.
Thanks!
Molly

 

[WindyHillFarm]

Hi Molly, they should be OK in So Cal without a heat lamp at that age. You can take some hot hands and wrap them in a rag, put them in the coop with the chicks at night, and they'll come lie on top if they're feeling cold. Get the hot hands at Walmart or Target, or someplace else that sells camping / outdoors stuff. A 2-pack costs about 72 cents and puts off heat for @10 hours. I'm in a colder climate and this works great for me.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Once they are fully feathered you can move them out without supplemental heat - especially in your location at the time of year you'll be doing so. My chicks move out at about 5-6 weeks to unheated coops. Last year they moved out at 5 weeks - within three days we hit a cold snap and experienced sub-freezing temperatures and snow - they were happy as little clams in their coop. One thing you can do to ease the transition is to spend the last week weaning them off the supplemental heat so they are not quite as shocked by the transition, but even that isn't absolutely necessary. As long as they are fairly well feathered out and have a draft free coop they can maintain their own body temp quite well.

 

[hbchicknmama]

Thank you for the replies! What about Winter? The lows here at their lowest hit around mid 40's. Most of the time lows are in the 50's. What kind of heating will they need, if any, in the winter? I'm trying to figure their needs out before I place the coop because of power needs. Our house is old and has no outdoor outlets so I would need to run an extension cord to the coop with heat if needed.

 

[WindyHillFarm]

You will not need any heat for adult chickens in the winter. We only heat our coop when temps drop below zero!

 

[hbchicknmama]

Sweet! Thank you!