Its going to be 32 degrees farinhiet tonight

[chicken fam]

tonight its supposed to be 32 degrees farinheit and I was wondering if i should bring my heat lamp out to my 5 chickens 4 of which this is their first winter and the other is 3-4 years old, one of our youngtsers has already died and I'm being kind of cautious with the rest. Should I put the heat lamp out there for our chickens?? I want to prevent further death be cause we raised them from chicks except for our older one. 2 were roosters and we had to give them away since we can't have roosers where I live, 1 has died due to either freezing or from an outbound?? egg pls help

 

[DobieLover]

tonight its supposed to be 32 degrees farinheit and I was wondering if i should bring my heat lamp out to my 5 chickens 4 of which this is their first winter and the other is 3-4 years old, one of our youngtsers has already died and I'm being kind of cautious with the rest. Should I put the heat lamp out there for our chickens?? I want to prevent further death be cause we raised them from chicks except for our older one. 2 were roosters and we had to give them away since we can't have roosers where I live, 1 has died due to either freezing or from an outbound?? egg pls help

No heat lamp.
Pictures of your coop inside and out will help determine if you have a ventilation problem. How many birds do you have in your coop and what is the square footage?
What were the symptoms of the one you lost? How old was she? When did this happen?

 

[Hei 20]

tonight its supposed to be 32 degrees farinheit and I was wondering if i should bring my heat lamp out to my 5 chickens 4 of which this is their first winter and the other is 3-4 years old, one of our youngtsers has already died and I'm being kind of cautious with the rest. Should I put the heat lamp out there for our chickens?? I want to prevent further death be cause we raised them from chicks except for our older one. 2 were roosters and we had to give them away since we can't have roosers where I live, 1 has died due to either freezing or from an outbound?? egg pls help

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[microchick]

I agree with @DobieLover. It may seem hard hearted but heat lamps aren't generally recommended for normal winter temperatures. One, fires happen. Two, if you get your birds used to a heat lamp, they will suffer without one and not be able to acclimate to the cold as easily.

Most birds will figure out their roosting order so that they have a buddy to snuggle up with plus you have to remember that they have that wonderful down under their hard feather covering that locks warmth next to their bodies.

Make sure you have ample ventilation and plenty of water and food for them. I give my birds scratch grain at night. The grain will help their metabolism rev up and help keep them warm.

So sorry you lost a young bird. Yes it does make a flock mom or dad a bit over protective of the survivors but as long as chickens are not in a direct draft and have the ability to tuck their feet into their breast feathers and their heads under their wings, they can survive some pretty cold temps.

 

[chicken fam]

ok thank you all for the help

 

[CluckerFamily]

They should be just fine without the heatlamp.

 

[NatJ]

5 chickens 4 of which this is their first winter

How old are the young ones?

 

[chicken fam]

How old are the young ones?

the younger ones are probs around a little less then a year they haven't started laying yet so I'll say 7-8 months. Also their out of the coop right now and look a little cold but seem fine, thanks for the advice everyone

 

[chicken fam]

No heat lamp.
Pictures of your coop inside and out will help determine if you have a ventilation problem. How many birds do you have in your coop and what is the square footage?
What were the symptoms of the one you lost? How old was she? When did this happen?

the one we lost was 7-8 months, a australorpe, didn't move like at all the day befor she died and she seemed more willing to let us pick her up/she didn't run away nearly as fast as she usually does. We have four chickens in out coop and as far as we know no ventilation problems.

 

[Aapomp831]

They are covered with a layer of down, the same thing we use to stuff comforters that keep us warm at night. They are barnyard animals - a lot of people lose sight of that. As a matter of fact, they are better off in the cold than pigs and cows and such due to that layer of down. It’s like being wrapped in a comforter all night.