I live in North Idaho and maybe I just baby my chicks. When they hatch I try to keep them inside for a month. I don’t have a brooder, they go in my Rubbermaid container and they have a 125 watt heat lamp above them. I put the lid over part of the box so they can move away from the heat and to shade the food and water from the heat as well.
When I put them out in the mini coop located inside my main coop that is in a 10 x 12’ building I always put the heat lamp on and I just watch them. If they still huddle under it at night I leave it on. When I see them moving away from it at night I’ll turn it off. It just dropped in the 30’s here night before last. They have a broody hen in there that hatched 4 chicks and she’s happy to mother them all, but some are 6+ weeks old now. Everyone raises chickens differently. I say use the lamp if you are that concerned.
