Nighttime temperatures

[michaelbell317]

The chicks are now going on two months old and are getting too big for their brooder in the basement. It's time to move them outside into their coop. One chick we have is clearly younger than the others and less developed. We've had her as long as the others, 4 weeks, but the others were clearly older when we bought them. Is 40 degrees at night too cold for chicks? I wasn't planning to provide heat in the coop, but my wife is worried about the smaller chick being too cold. The others have developed more/faster than her, although she's not too far behind. Maybe a week or two younger than the others.

 

[MountainWoman73]

I would probably provide a heat lamp on a timer that's only on at night, if you have a safe place to put it. Maybe you could keep her and 1-2 friends in the brooder and move the others?

 

[MountainWoman73]

Or, outside during the day and then gather them all up and put them back inside for cold nights. I have done that before.

 

[lutherpug]

What are you currently providing in your brooder and where is your brooder located? In general I wouldn't bat an eye at having chicks that age out in 40 degree weather. But I might have a little more concern if you are still using heat indoors or if they've never experienced temps below 80 degrees, for example. I moved my 8 week old chicks into their coop when it was 20 degrees and snowing and they did fine. But, they'd been in my garage without heat before I moved them out.

Is the chick in question fully feathered? Can you post a picture of her?