Temperatures for Peachicks in the Winter

[Waterfaery]

Our weather here is starting to change and I'm trying to find out what sort of temperatures are ok for peachicks who have peahens with them. I can find lots of threads referencing temperatures for peachicks in brooders with heat lamps etc but I can't find anything about when they're with a peahen.

I had assumed the peahens would keep them warm but I've noticed the last couple of nights that my two peahens are really struggling to fit 10 chicks under them on the roost. They are only 4 weeks old so they have a long way to go until they're fully feathered and I imagine there's no way they're all going to fit under the peahens until then. They roost in a shed so are not exposed to the elements but it's not heated or even insulated.

Does anyone know what kind of temperatures they will be able for in this sort of situation?

 

[casportpony]

Where do you live?

 

[Waterfaery]

Where do you live?

Ireland

 

[casportpony]

Ireland

How cold does it get there?

 

[Waterfaery]

How cold does it get there?

Our weather is famously changeable and unpredictable so it's hard to say!

It doesn't usually get too far below 0 degrees C. Maybe -5 C would be normal enough overnight for the coldest part of the winter. There have been a couple of bad years recently when it was colder than -10 C for a couple of weeks and didn't go above freezing at all during the day but that was unusual. It is quite a damp climate, though, which makes the cold a bit worse and we don't get much sunshine in the day during the winter.

Our autumns would often not be great, either. I'm thinking of September and October coming now and it could be below freezing overnight at any stage. We never know one year to the next. September could be as warm as the summer or it could be freezing.

 

[KsKingBee]

Sounds like Kansas but not as cold. One hen can only cover about four chicks once they are eight to ten weeks old but once they are three months they will be fine in the light cold as you have. They just need a coop to keep the elements and wind off of them. Last winter we had some awful -22*F for about five days and our chicks were fine in the coop with no heat except a heated dog bowl for water.

 

[KsKingBee]

Part of what you do need to do is acclimate them to the cold so they are used to it and not depend on external heat. They need to develop that thick down under the feathers to keep warm and they won't grow it if they are not cold.

 

[Waterfaery]

Sounds like Kansas but not as cold. One hen can only cover about four chicks once they are eight to ten weeks old but once they are three months they will be fine in the light cold as you have. They just need a coop to keep the elements and wind off of them. Last winter we had some awful -22*F for about five days and our chicks were fine in the coop with no heat except a heated dog bowl for water.

That's great to know that they can manage at that temperature. I don't think it's ever been that cold here.

So from 8 weeks until 3 months some of them won't fit underneath and they won't be fully feathered yet. Will the ones that don't get underneath be ok huddled between the hens on the roost?

 

[DukesDucks]

I have peacocks in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Over the last year our temperatures have ranged from +30c to -40c. The peacocks have a large outdoor, uncovered run, and access to an indoor, unheated area. I have been amazed how well they cope. Even after a big snow fall, with very cold temperatures, by choice they are outside.
I also have young peachicks and agree with the advice that they need to be outside to adapt to the cold.

 

[Waterfaery]

I have peacocks in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Over the last year our temperatures have ranged from +30c to -40c. The peacocks have a large outdoor, uncovered run, and access to an indoor, unheated area. I have been amazed how well they cope. Even after a big snow fall, with very cold temperatures, by choice they are outside.
I also have young peachicks and agree with the advice that they need to be outside to adapt to the cold.

I can't imagine how humans live in that kind of cold, never mind birds!

Sometimes I think my adult peafowl are crazy because they choose to roost outside in terrible weather. I just wondered about the peachicks because there are so many threads about keeping them at exact temperatures so I was hoping that being with peahens I wouldn't have to worry about all of that. That's great to know that they'll be fine and adapt to the weather here. Thanks so much.