Too cold to move chicks outside?

[AmberNate]

What does your coop look like? I'm mostly wondering about ventilation and wind protection, but size is also important. With that few it sounds like you may have a pretty small coop. Do you have older chickens in the coop where you have integration issues?

I've had 5-1/2 week old chicks go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. To me yours meet the age requirement. My chicks had great ventilation up high (practically wide open) and great wind protection down low where they were. I don't know if your coop has that. Mine were also acclimated. They were raised in a brooder in my coop where one end of the brooder was kept toasty warm but the far end of the brooder could cool off as it would. Sometimes I found ice on that end, so my chicks were exposed to cold weather.

My suggestion is to take them outside for a while during the day when you can watch them. See how they react. This will help them get acclimated but, just as important, it lets you see how they behave in cold weather. You may decide that it bothers you a lot more than it does them.

I don't now if the 20's is your daily high or daily low. The high doesn't matter, the low is what is important. And it's not an average low, but what extremes they might see. I do think it helps for them to be acclimatized, but I also think that they can handle cold like the wild birds that overwinter where you are. The big difference in yours, once they are acclimatized, is that wild birds can decide where they sleep at night. Ours have to make do with the coops we provide, that's why I'm asking about yours.

Something to think on. How great is the ventilation where the wild birds are sleeping? They will hide from a wind but they are not trapped in an airtight location. Decent ventilation is important.

Thank you! These are my very first chicks/chickens! I don't even have the coops yet. We ordered it and will be putting it together in the next week or two. I've read upper ventilation is very important. We got these babies the week before Xmas and they were 2-3 days old. So they've only ever known the indoors. They're getting so antsy. I don't want to shock them going from 65 degrees to 30. I might need to move the brooder into a room that's around 50? And start to slowly ween them down?

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Thank you! The heat lamp is completely off now and it gets down to 63 degrees in my house at night. They all sleep huddled up together. That's ok right? They're not too cold?

As long as they are sleeping and not screaming angrily at you, they are fine. Just snuggling.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You've mentioned how cold it is outside, what temperature is it in the garage? With that office coming off of it, it sounds like an attached garage. Those can be a lot warmer than the outside temperatures.

At 8 weeks and wearing a down coat they are probably appreciative of 63 degrees. They finally don't feel too warm. Put on a down coat and see how you feel at 63 degrees when you are out of the wind. It may not be long before you are unzipping or unbuttoning it.

Until mine start roosting they always sleep in a huddle no matter how warm they are. Sleeping in a huddle does not mean they are cold, it means they like the company.

If you have a place that is 30 degrees and out of the wind, take them there and observe them for a while. Let them show you how much they like or hate it. I understand you don't want to trust a stranger like me over the internet, that's often a wise position to take. But will you trust your chicks if they tell you they are OK with it? They may not be, you may need to expose them a few times before they are OK with it. But let them tell you that. I think you'll be surprised at how well they do.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't even have the coops yet. We ordered it and will be putting it together in the next week or two.

Oof that's a much bigger problem than your temperatures. Really need to prioritize getting that done.

I get that as a new owner you want to be cautious, but really these guys could've already moved out if you had the coop set up in advance. They don't want to be in the living room in a bin, they want to be outside and exploring.

If you can get a heating pad or a seeding mat that would be ideal for giving you peace of mind while they acclimate to cooler temperatures in the garage (hopefully in a larger enclosure), without having to use a heat lamp. Even if the heat pad has a shut off, you could have them with it in the garage for 2-3 hours, then bring them back in, and do it daily for longer intervals until you feel more confident in having them in there.

 

[AmberNate]

You've mentioned how cold it is outside, what temperature is it in the garage? With that office coming off of it, it sounds like an attached garage. Those can be a lot warmer than the outside temperatures.

At 8 weeks and wearing a down coat they are probably appreciative of 63 degrees. They finally don't feel too warm. Put on a down coat and see how you feel at 63 degrees when you are out of the wind. It may not be long before you are unzipping or unbuttoning it.

Until mine start roosting they always sleep in a huddle no matter how warm they are. Sleeping in a huddle does not mean they are cold, it means they like the company.

If you have a place that is 30 degrees and out of the wind, take them there and observe them for a while. Let them show you how much they like or hate it. I understand you don't want to trust a stranger like me over the internet, that's often a wise position to take. But will you trust your chicks if they tell you they are OK with it? They may not be, you may need to expose them a few times before they are OK with it. But let them tell you that. I think you'll be surprised at how well they do.

Good idea! Yeah I can’t imagine having that warmth attached to me and it being in the 60s. Any clue as to what they’ll do or act like if they’re too cold or not comfortable in 30 degree weather? Lol

 

[Ridgerunner]

They should crowd together and give a plaintive peep. That is a soul-searching sound that you know by hearing it that something is wrong, hard to misunderstand. They may huddle anyway but should walk around some exploring. They'll probably fluff up too, trying to trap heat in their feathers but mine do that on the roost at night when it is cold. It helps keeps them warm. The peep is the biggest clue to me.

 

[theoldchick]

I'd put them in the garage. I can say this because I've done this. My first garage coop was made of Cardboard and was called The Cardboard Corral. I now use nylon puppy pens. First I make room for them in the garage. Get the cars out of the way as there will be lots of feather dander to contend with. Lay down a thick blanket over the chosen area. Put a tarp over that then set up my gear. The last time I did this I had nylon puppy play pens and used a electric room heater in the garage. The temps average 60 degrees F and the six week old chicks did great.

 

[Talavar]

I put some out last week during a snowstorm (4-6 weeks old). I simply put a heatlamp in the corner of the coop. After getting over the shock of being moved out of their brooder (took about a day), they now seem to be enjoying their large space, and have really started working on figuring out their pecking order. They also are now roosting away from the heat lamp. Something I didn't expect so quickly. My breed is Bardrock-RIR hybrid. I'd say your chicks will be just fine.

 

[Kriscam]

Thank you! I'd love to take them outside during the day! The lady where we got them made me nervous..she said their little hearts would beat too fast to keep them warm and they'd pass out! I need to find a way to start exposing then to colder temps for sure. I think I need to figure out how to make the garage work.

When I first took my chicks outside they still had heat in their brooder in the garage. I used an extension cord and space heater in our bug/screen tent and they could come near it if they got cold. It worked well.