Problem with Red Rangers

[NewbieChickster]

Okay. It's been a couple of days since my first post and of course they have grown. I need to get them out of the house and out of the cage they are in. I put them in the coop for about an hour yesterday and they were eating everything they could find on the ground. I saw a potato bug go down for sure. I also put their food and water in while I was cleaning their cage. They had no interest in using the roosting bars or making their way up to the coop. I placed one upstairs and she or he found it's way down immediately.

After about 50 minutes outside in about 68 degree weather, one of the chickens developed a sneeze. I say develop, because I hadn't noticed it until then and I was watching them for quite some time. I put them back in their cage and brought them back in and even put them slightly by the heat lamp just in case warming it back up would help. I haven't been watching it, but when I went to feed them this morning, I didn't notice any of them sneezing.

As I said, they need to get out of our house. So I desperately want to put them in the coop full time, but with temps dropping to 40 something at night still, I am scared they won't make it. We have a pool shed. Should I put them out in their cage in that until it gets a bit warmer. I am also paranoid about predators. I am in general, a paranoid person if you can't tell. Chickens were probably not a good idea for me. I always hated the idea of outdoor animals and would never keep a dog or cat outside. I know these aren't pets, but I don't want to see a hawk, turkey buzzard, fox, bear, or raccoon hurt one either.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You never told us how old they are.

You should be paranoid about predators. If you build it - they will come.

Chickens are outdoor animals. They need big ventilation and aren't that fragile.

 

[NewbieChickster]

I tried to copy and paste a post from another thread and I guess I copied the wrong one.... Here is the one I meant to copy. The most updated one....

Okay. So here is the deal. My red rangers... I think they are all red rangers... Have survived 3 weeks under my care and supervision. No easy task for them or me. They have been outside for about a week now enjoying the coop. They do get out to roam around and go back in when asked. Anyhow, we have to put them up in the penthouse (as I like to call it ) and shut them in at night when it gets cold, because they don't know how to use the ladder to get up themselves it seems and they just lay at the bottom in the corner all curled up together. Some of the warmer nights (higher 50s and low 60s) I just let them do whatever and didn't worry about putting them up.

Here is where I get to my problem. Last night we had freaky weather. (I hate this weather this year.) It got down to about 32 and we had frost. Now we put them up in the penthouse with straw and shut them in, but I thought for sure they would be dead by morning. The coop is not big enough for the heat lamp we have and I didn't know what else to do. So I said a prayer and went to bed.

Today, I woke up and there was frost on the ground. (Thank God I had covered all of the vegetables I had just planted.) The temp was at about 49 by 7:30, so I went to check on them and to my surprise they were all alive. But I don't think they were very happy or healthy. All of their cones and wattles were pale. Is this a sign of them being cold or dehydrated. As soon as I let them out they started drinking like crazy. I had warmed the water by adding warm house water to what had been sitting out hoping it would help warm them from the inside. As soon as the sun hits where they are I am going to let them loose so they can lay in the sun, because they love doing that. (I just like to watch over them, because it is not a covered area and we have hawks.)

Any advice, besides I am bad at this.