how cold is too cold for 6 week old chicks?

[OF65]

Yes they are now 6 week old chicks. All are fully feathered accept a few,maybe 3 or 4,they don't act cold. I have really worked with them to keep them going. I lost 14 the first four days I had them. I have had bantams since I was a child , raising my own and buying from others or hatcheries and never had this problem.

 

[aart]

Yes they are now 6 week old chicks. All are fully feathered accept a few,maybe 3 or 4,they don't act cold. I have really worked with them to keep them going. I lost 14 the first four days I had them. I have had bantams since I was a child , raising my own and buying from others or hatcheries and never had this problem.

Probably best of you start a new thread in the Quail forum:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/quail.48/

 

[Fatherdowling]

I have been wondering the same thing about cold temps and my 6 week old leghorns and golden comets. It has been in the 50's and a cold rain...they huddle together in a corner under their coop. Question...when will they learn to go into their coop to get out of the chill? or maybe they won't? It has been 4 days and nights in their pen and I still have to pick them all up at dusk and put them in their coop. What is the "learning curve" on them going to the coop by themselves?

We are going camping for Memorial day and I have people coming to chicken sit, but had hoped they would just start putting themselves to bed

I have 11 chick's ranging in age from 6 - 7 weeks. They have been in the coop for almost 2 weeks. The first three days in the coop, I never let them out to the run. Day 4 I let them out, and now when the sun goes down, they put themselves to bed in their coop.

 

[animalcule]

My 4-week-olds have been outside since they were 3w6d and it has been highs in the high 50s to low 60s, and lows in the 40s. I don’t think you have anything to worry about with chicks the age of yours.

 

[aart]

My 4-week-olds have been outside since they were 3w6d

So for just 1 day so far?

 

[irlybird]

We have Had the chicks out in the coop for 2 weeks now. They are 6.5 weeks now.
(They stopped using the heat plate around 3 weeks.)
We had to leave for two nights so they have enough food/water and left them locked in the coop.
We left the 2 windows open a bit (4ft above the ground where they currently are sleeping. The breeze will not be direct.
Of course since we left a cold snap came through. It’s getting down to 5 Celsius tonight and I’m looking for comfort that they will be ok. The coop is insulated but with the windows open I’m sure it will keep the air crisp.
There is 16 of them and they all have their feathers. The always huddle together at night and clearly have had no supplemental heat for 3+ weeks.
Any words of comfort?

 

[aart]

We have Had the chicks out in the coop for 2 weeks now. They are 6.5 weeks now.
(They stopped using the heat plate around 3 weeks.)
We had to leave for two nights so they have enough food/water and left them locked in the coop.
We left the 2 windows open a bit (4ft above the ground where they currently are sleeping. The breeze will not be direct.
Of course since we left a cold snap came through. It’s getting down to 5 Celsius tonight and I’m looking for comfort that they will be ok. The coop is insulated but with the windows open I’m sure it will keep the air crisp.
There is 16 of them and they all have their feathers. The always huddle together at night and clearly have had no supplemental heat for 3+ weeks.
Any words of comfort?

They'll be fine...as long as they are dry and out of any direct winds.

 

[Millsa]

I put 4 week olds out on 40 degree evenings with a rentacoop hot plate. They all decided to sleep ONTOP of the hot plate.. so i removed it and they did just fine. It’s in the 80s now and next week is going to be highs in the 50’s and rain.. they’ll be 6 weeks and 9 weeks and they will be JUST FINE. Not moving heat back into the coop = they dont need heat. They have little down coats on.

 

[Appenzeller friend]

The answer to almost any question regarding 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 week old chicks is that they are a whole lot tougher than folks give them credit. A broody mom would have kicked them out out the nest a long time ago, so to speak. After 4 weeks, most chicks only need a little help at night. At 6 weeks, unless you intend to experience overnight temps in the 20's, they don't need any assistance at all. Just a dry sheltered place. That's it.


If I were leaving for a couple of days, I'd lock the birds in a safe place, like our barn or in a large coop, with twice the waterers than normal. If daytime temps were not over 86F and they had good ventilation, I'd rather they be locked up and I not have to worry about them. If they haven't figured out how to get up and down a ramp yet, they'll be left outside and perhaps more susceptible to predation.

This was very helpful. Had a late brooding mom - sitting on 2 eggs. Oct.21 we had 2 chicks. They were from the beginning on in the small coop with no additional heat. They are now 6 weeks old and the temp is going down to 18F at night. I think mom will keep them warm. As it has been rather cool and very windy they have not been out yet. I am not sure how to integrate them with the rest of the chickens.