For the last 2 nights, my small group of 9 have decided to huddle elsewhere from the heat lamp, in fact as FAR away as they can get. Regardless of the 30 degree temperature that they are in, the prefer to tuff it out! How crazy is that? I've got some tuff chicks!!!
That's great! I'm in the process of taking the heat lamp away from my 5 week olds. I started by taking it away during the day. Next week, I'll take it away at night and see how they do. Then it's off to the starter coop!
Here they are after I shooed them over to the light to eat & drink the warm water I brought them this a.m.
Hi and good morning! I'm new to BYC and this is my first post. This is my first time raising chickens and the girls will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. 2 New Hampshire Reds, 1 Plymouth Rock, 1 black sexlink and one gold sexlink. They are all living in the bathtub in a large plastic box and I've got to get them out of there! They have grown so fast and need more room. They have been off the heat lamp for a couple of days now and their coop is almost done. How do I get them out of the tub and into the coop? I'm in California with low temps are high 30's and high temps are low to mid 60's. Will they still need a heat lamp? For how long? I plan to keep them closed inside the coop for a few days before letting them out into the run. The coop is 4 X 6 (I replicated the EZ Clean Deuce Coop) and the run is 6 X 6 all enclosed. Thanks! Season
DawnSuiter, your chicks are beautiful. They really are tougher than we give them credit for. Hi Season and welcome to BYC! Do your chicks look about as feathered out as DawnSuiters are? If so, they're more than ready for the (draft-free) coop. With nighttime temps. in the 30s at night, you might want to continue to offer a heat source at night for a couple more weeks. It's always a good idea to doubly secure a heat lamp used in the coop. Example, hang it with a chain and then secure it with zip ties or other binder. Keep them in the coop only for about a week, then on nice days let them have access to their run. In the future, you might want to start your own thread to ask a new question. That way your question isn't lost at the bottom of someone else's thread. Good luck and stick around! You'll love it here at BYC! ETA: If you don't know how to start a new thread, it can seem a little tricky, just PM me and I'll be glad to help you out.
from Alaska as for moving them, I would just carry their plastic box to the coop. and place them from it into the coop. heat lamp? depends on the chicks, weather and coop temp.
Hi Gritsar and thanks for the reply and advice on starting a new thread! My girls aren't quite as feathered as DawnSuiters beauties, but they're getting close!
My rule of thumb is that when they are big enough that they shun the heat lamp, they don't need it. I start going out at night and peeking in the coop (Yes, DH things I'm nuts when I do this.) When they are no longer sleeping under the light at night, I begin turning it off. I only turn it back on if there is a sudden hard cold snap. Of course, for me 30's is a hard cold snap! But I figure that birds usually get hardened to whatever climate they live in.
Hi Everyone, thank you for the wonderful compliments, I'm a proud mama... and now I'm down to 7 left, only 2 extras to find new homes for! Not bad for this time of year. It's been below freezing for two nights so I put the light back on and made them move over to that area, but they seem unsure of where they want to be. I think now they've settled on the edge of the light. Really amazing I think.. I hope they know what's best for themselves, that's all I can hope for now. to you Seasons if you read this, you'll love it here!
