Is it too cold and is the coop too shabby for 5 week old chicks with our cold weather?

[HilaryAkin]

So, I have 8 five and a half week old chicks. I had them in the brooder until they were about four weeks old and then brought them outside to our baby coop and enclosure (the one I keep them in while introducing them to the rest of the flock). When they were two weeks I started bringing them out for periods of time when it was 60s and a brief 70s day. It is mostly 40 degrees during the day and 30 degrees at night now here in Northern Michigan. I do have a heater, Brinsea? The one that is yellow and they can get under it, in the top part of the coop. They seem to run around the enclosed area decently during the day and just run inside if it rains or it's extra breezy. It was feels like temps of 32 degrees last night and it won't be getting any warmer. I think snow is coming on Monday (a few days). My question is, can the chicks keep staying outside at night since I have slowly acclimated them to the cooler weather and did okay in low 30s last night, or should I bring them inside to the heated garage and their brooder at night until they are more feathered out? 6-8 weeks? Also, the baby coop is a prefab one from TSC that is just for the in between period. Will it suffice in the next couple weeks of potential snow? They are definitely too small to go into the big coop with their sisters.

P.S. please excuse our other hen, Dinner (my 10 year old named her that ugh, his chicken), that's in the pic, she's molting.

Thanks!

 

[Peaches Lee]

If they were mine, I would be bringing them into the heated garage.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had 5-1/2 week olds go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. Like yours they were acclimated. The coop they were in had good wind protection down where they were, no breeze was going to hit them. It also had really good ventilation up high. Not sure how much ventilation your TSC coop has. Ventilation would be my biggest question.

But you are not planning on leaving them out there without supplemental heat, you have that Brinsea heat plate. I think there is a good chance they will ignore it, but it will be there if they need it. I don't see any problems leaving them outside, though you might want more ventilation up high.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

So, I have 8 five and a half week old chicks. I had them in the brooder until they were about four weeks old and then brought them outside to our baby coop and enclosure (the one I keep them in while introducing them to the rest of the flock). When they were two weeks I started bringing them out for periods of time when it was 60s and a brief 70s day. It is mostly 40 degrees during the day and 30 degrees at night now here in Northern Michigan. I do have a heater, Brinsea? The one that is yellow and they can get under it, in the top part of the coop. They seem to run around the enclosed area decently during the day and just run inside if it rains or it's extra breezy. It was feels like temps of 32 degrees last night and it won't be getting any warmer. I think snow is coming on Monday (a few days). My question is, can the chicks keep staying outside at night since I have slowly acclimated them to the cooler weather and did okay in low 30s last night, or should I bring them inside to the heated garage and their brooder at night until they are more feathered out? 6-8 weeks? Also, the baby coop is a prefab one from TSC that is just for the in between period. Will it suffice in the next couple weeks of potential snow? They are definitely too small to go into the big coop with their sisters.

P.S. please excuse our other hen, Dinner (my 10 year old named her that ugh, his chicken), that's in the pic, she's molting.

Thanks!

Where are you located?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I've had 5-1/2 week olds go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. Like yours they were acclimated. The coop they were in had good wind protection down where they were, no breeze was going to hit them. It also had really good ventilation up high. Not sure how much ventilation your TSC coop has. Ventilation would be my biggest question.

But you are not planning on leaving them out there without supplemental heat, you have that Brinsea heat plate. I think there is a good chance they will ignore it, but it will be there if they need it. I don't see any problems leaving them outside, though you might want more ventilation up high.

I second that on the ventilation, even if its a temporary coop.

 

[Bags]

Where are you located?

I would not bring them inside, they need to adjust and feather out. The average body temp of a chicken is around 105 or so. Before bed I would start them on a little cracked corn. It will heat their bodies up and digest very slow. If you have extra hay or straw it will help. Best of luck

 

[HilaryAkin]

Where are you located?

I am in Northern Lower Michigan, the Torch Lake area. Just had snow and rain all day yesterday ugh. Today they are out and playing in the leaves, even though it's cold still. I see you're in the UP so probably have tons of snow already!

 

[HilaryAkin]

I would not bring them inside, they need to adjust and feather out. The average body temp of a chicken is around 105 or so. Before bed I would start them on a little cracked corn. It will heat their bodies up and digest very slow. If you have extra hay or straw it will help. Best of luck

Great advice, thanks!

 

[HilaryAkin]

I've had 5-1/2 week olds go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. Like yours they were acclimated. The coop they were in had good wind protection down where they were, no breeze was going to hit them. It also had really good ventilation up high. Not sure how much ventilation your TSC coop has. Ventilation would be my biggest question.

But you are not planning on leaving them out there without supplemental heat, you have that Brinsea heat plate. I think there is a good chance they will ignore it, but it will be there if they need it. I don't see any problems leaving them outside, though you might want more ventilation up high.

I double checked ventilation and while I am keeping the windows a bit open, I don't think that's ventilation rather than circulation and probably more of a draft. They seem to be doing okay so far. With ventilation up high, is that on the roof? High on the sides? Won't precipitation get in? Our chicken coop is Amish made and was told had adequate ventilation but seems small compared to what I read about how much they should have.

The adult coop does have two windows across from one another I keep open, but again, not sure that's doing what it should and not sure I should keep them open all winter...

 

[Ridgerunner]

With ventilation up high, is that on the roof? High on the sides? Won't precipitation get in?

Ventilation up high means openings above their heads when they are on the roost. They can be homemade or purchased. Gable vents on the walls can be louvered to help keep rain or snow out. Soffit vents under overhangs can keep rain or snow out. Ridge vents, roof vents, or a cupola can move a lot of air.

Our chicken coop is Amish made and was told had adequate ventilation but seems small compared to what I read about how much they should have.

This is a topic I have trouble writing about without getting snarky, and I really don't want to get snarky. We all have different conditions, goals, and circumstances so a lot of different things can work for different ones of us. But people starting out don't have a feel for what they need so people come up with guidelines, numbers that generally keep most people out of trouble no matter how poor the quality is or how the chickens are managed. Often those numbers are overkill, much more than a lot of people need. Sometimes they are not quite as big as some people need. Those same numbers are used whether you are talking about a micro-class Serama hen that might weigh 1/2 pound or a Jersey Giant hen that could weigh 10 pounds, whether you are in the tropics or in colder parts of Canada or Alaska, whether you have 4 chickens or 40, whether you free range with unlimited room or keep them in a small coop/run.

How much ventilation you need is not a simple calculation. A ridge vent will move different amounts of air than a gable vent even if it has fewer square feet than the gable vent. Where your air inlets are have a big part to play, if you even have any. Your macro-climate and micro-climate are important, where your coop is on your property and how it is oriented can make a big difference. A big danger in cold weather is frostbite. Whether your chickens have big single combs or small tight pea combs can have an effect.

One thing I see on here often is where someone has had chickens for years and come on here for some other reason and somebody tells them they have to have more ventilation, coop space, or roost space. They can be pretty adamant about that need, although it has been working for years. I can do that too, especially when they are adding more chickens. If something changes you might not get the same results.

Did you have chickens last winter? Have any frostbite? If it worked then there is a reasonable chance it will work this year. But maybe a storm comes out of a different direction this year or you are going up in overall numbers so you have problems. To me it's not always easy to predict. But if it has worked before I would not get too worked up about changing things to meet what really are arbitrary numbers that might not really apply to you.