This may be a little OT, but I think it goes along with the thinking of this thread...and I'd like some feedback from those with a bit of experience in raising chicks.
I hope I'm not being callous. My 3 week old chicks spent their first night out last night. It got down to 48*. I had put the heat lamp out, and it kept it to 65* in the immediate vicinity of the lamp. They have a lot of feathers, so I was more concerned about raccoons than the weather (even though the coop could withstand an atomic bomb and keep standing).
I just went out to check on the chicks. They aren't even near the heat lamp, but have chosen to bury themselves in the deep litter, under a raised board I set up to put their food on. They came out of thier improvised "Mama Heating Pad" when they saw my flashlight, but didn't show any signs of distress. Though I'm not sure that I would recognise signs of distress. But they started chirping, seemingly happily.
Am I being callous? Am I missing signs of distress? Being away from the heat lamp, they were in 48* weather with only each others body heat to keep them warm.
P.S. Since they were already up, I turned the outside light on and just now went out to check on them. They are all out of their nest, eating and drinking and seem to me be acting normally (for a chicken, anyway).
UPDATE: It is 2 1/2 hours later and is now light out. Just checked on the chicks again and they act like everything is normal. I gave them an earthworm and they went nuts. I have come to the conclusion that the rule of lessening their heating by 5* every week is not always the case. Maybe my breed is more hardy (Production Reds), I don't know. This conclusions seems in harmony with a comment Blooie made that, while chicks need care, they are not the delicate little things that they are made out to be. If someone with experience disagrees with this conclusion, please I won't be offended. I am brand new to chicks (since I was a kid anyway) and want to learn.
