How cold is too cold to keep mom and new chicks in the coop

[ChickenTenderNow]

That is way to warm to be keeping the coop. No one will be ready if power fails.

Running just ONE heat lamp is risking a fire. Running 3 is beyond comprehension.

How big is the coop?
How are you hanging these heat lamps?

Are the birds able to get completely away from them?

How would you do it differently?

 

[21hens-incharge]

How would you do it differently?

Not knowing your coop size, how you have the lamps secured, what breeds (other than silkie) it is impossible to say what I would do differently.

I can say how I would handle young chicks hatched by a broody in MY set up.....but our set ups are likely quite different.
It is a broody hens job to keep chicks warm. We can aid her by giving her a clean dry space protected from weather to do it in.
I had a bantam cochin with day old chicks in March several years ago. She had a dry draft free small sturdy coop, a short run i covered the top but not sides on and temps were down to near zero at night with highs only getting to low 30's.
They went under her to warm then darted back out to run around even in those temps. Everyone did fantastic.

Chickens wear a down coat year round. They are far more capable than they get credit for.

Please post pics of your coop in order to get advice for your set up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your Silkie is almost certainly a bantam. Eleven chick is a lot but they are probably bantam too. That's not as bad as regular sized chicks under a bantam but it's still a lot of chicks and they will grow. With fewer chicks I'd say don't worry about it, I don't know of she will be able to cover them all in a few weeks though. I normally set 12 eggs the size she normally lays under of broody but in this time of year I limit that to 8. Winter and cold weather is harder.

I also use heat lamps, I don't freak out about them the way some people do. People have been using them for over 100 years. They work. But I will freak out about one thing. You said you are using those clamps. Throw them away so you are not even tempted to use them. They are a danger and i think cause most of the issues with heat lamps and fires. Use wire to hold them firmly in place. Then use a second wire as a backup. Do not use string or plastic that can burn or melt, use wire. Make darn sure those lamps are secure.

If they can get away from that heated area they will acclimate. My brooder is in the coop, I put chicks in it straight from the incubator even when the outside temperatures are below freezing. One end stays toasty but the other end might have ice in it. Usually around 5 weeks I stop supplemental heat but if it is below freezing I usually go 5-1/2 weeks.

I really do not throw those clamps way. I store them in my workshop with my other clamps. They sometimes come in useful for other things but not for supporting heat lamps. I consider that dangerous.

 

[NatJ]

Even though it is low 20's outside... the coop is buttoned up and cozy and chicks are running around. Relieved that 76 degrees is the lowest it got in there last night.

If you were using that coop as a brooder with no hen, you would be fine with ONE heat lamp heating ONE small space to 95 degrees at chick-height, with feed and water near the outer edge of the lit/heated circle, and the rest of the space as cool as it naturally gets.

Given that the chicks do have a mother hen, I would certainly go down to one heat lamp, and adjust it to provide a single warm area near the food & water, instead of trying to heat the whole space.

The more they have access to cool space, the more quickly they will grow feathers and be able to deal with cold. And as long as they can warm up whenever they want (under the hen, or under a heat lamp), they will not be stressed by having cold areas available to play in.

 

[ChickenTenderNow]

Not knowing your coop size, how you have the lamps secured, what breeds (other than silkie) it is impossible to say what I would do differently.

I can say how I would handle young chicks hatched by a broody in MY set up.....but our set ups are likely quite different.
It is a broody hens job to keep chicks warm. We can aid her by giving her a clean dry space protected from weather to do it in.
I had a bantam cochin with day old chicks in March several years ago. She had a dry draft free small sturdy coop, a short run i covered the top but not sides on and temps were down to near zero at night with highs only getting to low 30's.
They went under her to warm then darted back out to run around even in those temps. Everyone did fantastic.

Chickens wear a down coat year round. They are far more capable than they get credit for.

Please post pics of your coop in order to get advice for your set up.

 

[ChickenTenderNow]

If you were using that coop as a brooder with no hen, you would be fine with ONE heat lamp heating ONE small space to 95 degrees at chick-height, with feed and water near the outer edge of the lit/heated circle, and the rest of the space as cool as it naturally gets.

Given that the chicks do have a mother hen, I would certainly go down to one heat lamp, and adjust it to provide a single warm area near the food & water, instead of trying to heat the whole space.

The more they have access to cool space, the more quickly they will grow feathers and be able to deal with cold. And as long as they can warm up whenever they want (under the hen, or under a heat lamp), they will not be stressed by having cold areas available to play in.

Thank you guys this is very helpful and exactly what I was wondering! I truly hate heat lamps too!
Our silkie is tiny so was our rooster, also a white silkie. But 9 of her 11 babies are brown so they have full size mothers (barnvelder and something else I dont recall). They are sectioned off in half of our rather small coop. Probably 4 wide by 4.5 long by 2-3 feet high. It is about 18 inches off the ground, and has 15 inches deep nest boxes off the long side.

I have been torn because people are telling me to keep them super warm the first weeks and I'm like, she has a good work load of babies but she seems like an excellent mom and I have seen her with all 11 under her many times.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thank you guys this is very helpful and exactly what I was wondering! I truly hate heat lamps too!
Our silkie is tiny so was our rooster, also a white silkie. But 9 of her 11 babies are brown so they have full size mothers (barnvelder and something else I dont recall). They are sectioned off in half of our rather small coop. Probably 4 wide by 4.5 long by 2-3 feet high. It is about 18 inches off the ground, and has 15 inches deep nest boxes off the long side.

I have been torn because people are telling me to keep them super warm the first weeks and I'm like, she has a good work load of babies but she seems like an excellent mom and I have seen her with all 11 under her many times.

In that size coop a single heat lamp is overkill.

As long as she is doing her mother hen job I would not use any lamp.

 

[Hill top lady]

Bring them in--to many things can to wrong. Including mama.

 

[NatJ]

Bring them in--to many things can to wrong. Including mama.

Things can go wrong indoors, too. It is quite possible, and common, to raise chicks safely in an outdoor coop.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Things can go wrong indoors, too. It is quite possible, and common, to raise chicks safely in an outdoor coop.

Yup.

Right now I have 6 chicks that are 7 weeks old and 2 that are 8 weeks old. They went straight to the coop at 3 days old.

I do have ONE heat lamp that was on the very end of their starter brooder (2'x6'). They now have full access to the 6x8 coop and run. They pop under the lamp if they need to but are mostly spending their time in the run.
Our temp this morning was 20°F. They ALL ran into the run when I opened that door. That coop has open sofits so does not build heat at all. Just that one warm(ish) space under that lamp.

That lamp is secured by chains.