Temperature in coop - chilly for chicks!! Worried

[mcf3kids]

So my 4 week old chicks have been in the coop now for a week and our temperatures have dropped here in NH to 40's at night -

- ughhh - its JUNE!! I have a thick coat of pine bedding in there and the heat lamp on high and this morning it was only 58 degrees at the wall closest to where the light hangs. The chicks should be 70-75 for this week. Clearly they are protected from wind and weather but will they be ok all huddled together under the light with bedding. There are 22 of them (thank goodness its not 3 or 4). I am going to buy another heat lamp today and put it in there because it looks to be a low in the 40's all week. Anybody else face this issue? How did it go? Did you lose any chicks? I am really trying to do everything right and this makes me worried - thanks for your input!

 

[Live Oak Farms 01]

You can run an extension cord to the coop and have a heat lamp out there! You can have it on all the time, or just at night.

Hope this helps!

 

[mcf3kids]

I have a heat lamp in there with them and it is on full force bringing the coop only up to 58 degrees - going to get a second heat lamp today to see if I can get it warmer.

 

[cmom]

I put a couple of heat lamps in my coop when it's chilly and hang them low enough for the chicks to get the heat. I don't try to heat the coop with the lamps. On really cold nights I did put a utility heater in the coop on a shelf I made so the chicks couldn't get at it and put some wire around it and stapled the wire to some studs so it wouldn't fall if the chicks managed to somehow get up there. I ran a second extension cord as it takes more power to run a heater.

 

[mcf3kids]

I did move the thermometer so that I could see what it is directly under the light and it went up to 64 so that makes me feel a bit better but I will still buy a second light. I will talk to hubby about some other heating system like you said. Thanks it seems that the coop is reading just a handful of degrees warmer than the outside air temp - not sure what that will mean this winter

 

[Anianna]

You've mentioned what the temps are, but not how the chicks are behaving. Are they showing any negative impact? At four weeks, they probably aren't fully feathered, but may have enough for the occasional chill. 58 temporarily doesn't sound too bad to me for chicks that age, particularly if they are hardy breeds. Keep in mind that chicks raised by a momma hen get pretty much kicked to the curb around week 4 no matter what the temperature is outside. If momma hen figures 4 weeks is old enough to deal with it, I figure she knows best. I don't think you need to get a second heat lamp. Let them get used to temperature fluctuations so they will be better prepared to handle even greater fluctuations they will experience in the fall.

 

[mcf3kids]

They are acting fine - active. They are huddling under the light but will go to the food and water which is close by to the lamp but just out of its warm zone. Thank you for your input - I would hate to make any of these cuties sick. They are all pretty hardy breeds, BO's, RIR, Rocks etc..

 

[duckinnut]

Where in the coop is the lamp? Are the chicks roosting? You should have the lamp not more than 18 inches away from the floor of the coop so they can lay under it. They will self regulate if the are hot or cold,my newest girls are 7wks and still leave the lamp on for them and let them choose.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
By the time winter get here you won't have to worry about heating their coop. They will be well featherd and able to handle the cold. I don't heat my coop and even though I live in Florida I live in north central Florida and it can get into the upper teens at night but mostly the 20's and 30's. I just shut the vents so there is no drafts. These are older pictures but the vents are along the back of the coop too.

 

[ruralretreatchx]

I'm in a situation similar to yours. My problem is that in Virginia, where we live, it's been in the 80's and 90's during the day, 60's at night. I've just posted about this same thing. My girls are 2 1/2 weeks old and I think getting too hot in their brooder. I think I'm going to let them into their coop with the heat lamp, so when they get cold, they can go under it.

Watch their behavior. If they huddle underneath the lamp, on top of each other they are too cold. If they stay on the perimeter of the light, they feel comfy there...if they go as far to the perimeter of the brooder as they can get and as far away from the lamp as possible (as my chicks do) then they are too hot.

Keep us posted. They will tell you what's going on by how they act!!! good luck!