- Apr 16, 2014
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I have five 4 1/2 week old baby chickens (two golden buffs, one barred plymouth, one easter egger, one white orpington). They have most of their feathers, but have not yet fully feathered on their heads and chests. For space and husband reasons, I had to move them from their indoor brooder to the coop outside this past Friday when it was 70 degrees in Denver. My coop is actually in the back portion of my garage/shed. It is about 4 feet by 11 feet. The girls do not yet have access to the run. (WE have an old house with an even older shed that used to be a chicken coop. We reconverted the coop portion back into a coop.)
Well, this past weekend through Tuesday, our 70 degree weather is going away. The low tonight will be in the mid-20's, and we just got about 7 inches of a spring snow storm. I have installed two heat lamps (one red 225 watt heat lamp and one yellow 125 watt heat lamp) in the coop, hanging off a chain about 2 feet up from the surface of the coop. I've checked for safety several times, and it seems okay.
The temp in the "cold" parts of the coop is about 55 degrees at night. The temp directly under the red heat lamp (where they congregate when they're cold) is ranged from 65-75 overnight.
I hung up blankets and towels over the hardware wire and blocked off any drafts that naturally come into the garage/shed with more blankets and towels. There are no drafty spots in the coop.
The girls run around and do chickeny things most of the time, but overnight, they huddle together under the red heat lamp, where it's around 65 degrees (that was the coldest it ever was inside the brooder before I moved them.)
I'm a little concerned that tonight's lows 25 or so may be just too cold. If the coop drops to around 50 in the "cold" parts and under the lamp to 55-60, will the girls still be ok?
They've been out there since Friday night (so two nights with lows of around 31) and been okay. It feels relatively cozy in there to me, but I'm not a 4 1/2 week old baby chicken.
The cold weather is due to move out after Tuesday, we'll be back to 70s during the day and upper 40's at night. I plan on keeping the brooder heat lamps in there until they're fully feathered (at about Week 7 or 8), or until temps get even milder.
I'm a first-timer, so any insight you have is greatly appreciated!
Here's some pics:
This shows all five. You can tell their size in relation to the waters. This is inside the coop.
Here are the one of the Golden Buffs and the Barred plymouth on a roost. This is also inside the coop, up higher. You can see how feathered they are and how big they are.
Well, this past weekend through Tuesday, our 70 degree weather is going away. The low tonight will be in the mid-20's, and we just got about 7 inches of a spring snow storm. I have installed two heat lamps (one red 225 watt heat lamp and one yellow 125 watt heat lamp) in the coop, hanging off a chain about 2 feet up from the surface of the coop. I've checked for safety several times, and it seems okay.
The temp in the "cold" parts of the coop is about 55 degrees at night. The temp directly under the red heat lamp (where they congregate when they're cold) is ranged from 65-75 overnight.
I hung up blankets and towels over the hardware wire and blocked off any drafts that naturally come into the garage/shed with more blankets and towels. There are no drafty spots in the coop.
The girls run around and do chickeny things most of the time, but overnight, they huddle together under the red heat lamp, where it's around 65 degrees (that was the coldest it ever was inside the brooder before I moved them.)
I'm a little concerned that tonight's lows 25 or so may be just too cold. If the coop drops to around 50 in the "cold" parts and under the lamp to 55-60, will the girls still be ok?
They've been out there since Friday night (so two nights with lows of around 31) and been okay. It feels relatively cozy in there to me, but I'm not a 4 1/2 week old baby chicken.
The cold weather is due to move out after Tuesday, we'll be back to 70s during the day and upper 40's at night. I plan on keeping the brooder heat lamps in there until they're fully feathered (at about Week 7 or 8), or until temps get even milder.
I'm a first-timer, so any insight you have is greatly appreciated!
Here's some pics:
This shows all five. You can tell their size in relation to the waters. This is inside the coop.
Here are the one of the Golden Buffs and the Barred plymouth on a roost. This is also inside the coop, up higher. You can see how feathered they are and how big they are.
