Keeping chicks in a conservatory?

[sophie_cerys]

I'm thinking of getting some chicks (I've kept chickens for years but have never had chicks before), and was just wondering if people think it would be okay to keep them in the conservatory at this time of year? I have a heater I could leave in there overnight (the one where you set a temperature and it keeps the room at that temperature), and obviously it gets warm during the day but I can open the windows and inside door and put a fan on. Do you think this would work?

Also, at what age would you know whether it's male or female?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is this in your house? Or outdoors? Maybe my idea of conservatory is different than yours... you have a photo of what you have in mind?

Really shouldn't be a need to heat the room itself but the fact that it gets hot enough that you'd need a fan in there is a concern. A fan isn't a great idea, it's basically a giant draft. How hot does it get, and how cold?

Age that you can sex them visually depends on breed. I'd say around 8 weeks in most cases you can be pretty sure, but some breeds (or even individual birds) are trickier.