Their mother hen already shooed them away, and it's been really hot so I haven't worried about the temperatures. But tonight it's raining and supposed to be low 60s, and when I shut their dog crate nursery up, I noticed they were peeping in the back of the crate, all trying to crawl under each other. Was it because of temperature, general nervousness without a mother hen, or the rain making them nervous? 90 degree day, 62 degree night. Is that too cool for 5 week old Dominiques?
That could be a little cool for 5 week olds. If they have all their feathers in they should be fine though.
Probably all of the above. Chicks raised by a mama hen are better able to handle the temperature highs and lows, but missing their mommy, rain and lower temps all coming all at one time is very upsetting for them. I put my brooder-raised 6 week old chicks out for good at the beginning of April and it was very rainy and pretty cold some nights, but they were fine. With lows of 62 degrees and not brooder raised, they should be more than fine.
If they stay dry, they'll be just fine. At 5 weeks, there is no concern. I'd guess they just a little out of sorts, that's all.
Im with ya. Mine are 5 weeks old, and havent had a heat lamp during the day in at least a week, it has been so warm here. They didnt have the light last night or tonight, and now the temps have dropped....they are pretty much all feathered, and there is 16 of them, Im guessing they can cuddle to stay warm! How many do you have?
There are 3. The dog crate is completely tarped over, with a board on top, so it's dry in there, and it's wire meshed all over for predator protection. They had their first few thunder claps earlier in the evening. Poor little things really could've used their mother tonight. But I just went out to check on them (it's 4:30 a.m. - is that normal? ha) and I don't hear any peeping so I think they're okay.
