I'm planning to bring my 13 week-old pekin bantams into the basement to ride out the worst of the heatwave. It's 68 degrees down there. What I'm struggling with is when to put them back out. I'd like to do it Wednesday morning, when it will be 74 degrees at 6am. The problem is it's once again heating to 90 degrees that afternoon. Is that going to affect them after spending almost 2 days in my 68 degree basement? Thursday's weather will be perfect to transition out, but I'd like to get them back to the pen ASAP if possible.
They obviously face similar temperature swings in their day to day (it was quite temperate before the heatwave, which they've handled well so far), so I'm a little confused as to what type of temperature swing is dangerous for chickens. I know you don't want to heat your coop in winter for this reason, should you lose power.
Any clarification is much appreciated!
And for anyone wondering why I'm bringing them in... we're temporarily using a prefab coop with crappy ventilation, and the 7 girls still puddle onto 24" of roost space (they have two, 43" bars...
). If someone has a tip for teaching them to spread out, I'm all ears!
Edited to add a video of their nighttime shenanigans, if anyone needs a laugh.
They obviously face similar temperature swings in their day to day (it was quite temperate before the heatwave, which they've handled well so far), so I'm a little confused as to what type of temperature swing is dangerous for chickens. I know you don't want to heat your coop in winter for this reason, should you lose power.
Any clarification is much appreciated!
And for anyone wondering why I'm bringing them in... we're temporarily using a prefab coop with crappy ventilation, and the 7 girls still puddle onto 24" of roost space (they have two, 43" bars...
). If someone has a tip for teaching them to spread out, I'm all ears!Edited to add a video of their nighttime shenanigans, if anyone needs a laugh.
