Hello Everyone,
It's great that such a forum exists. I just signed up and have a question about my 34 day old chicks I've had for 4 days.
They are outside in a tarped, mini hoop-coop, a little over 6'L x 4'H x 28"W with a 100w reflector light, after their first night here in a temporary, small, heated crate. There is a small 3 sided shelter they go in and out of inside the coop.
They're mostly feathered out, but 2 of them still have downy fluff on their necks and heads. The tack shop had just moved them to a regular un-heated cage a couple(?) of days before I picked them up. They had been housed indoors with about 50 other chicks, and the daytime temps at that time had been in the 90's, with night temps expected to get much cooler in a day or so.
Since the first night's temp at home was going to drop down into the 50's I put a heat lamp in for them, and they did stay near the lamp most of the night. They were moved to the coop the next day.
Last night it was to be 39-40 degrees here and somewhat windy, so, instead of leaving a part of the coop uncovered, I draped the entire coop. Everybody was telling me they'd be ok without heat and without covering it since they were feathered, but to me, a 50 degree temp change all of a sudden just seemed like too much for young chicks.
Am I being overly cautious? I always had chickens, but these are the first I've had in years. For years back then I always got day old chicks and never lost a single one to cold (or a heat stroke!lol) but a lot of things have changed for me in that time and maybe I AM being a bit too clucky with the baby girls?
Thanks so much for a place to ask!
It's great that such a forum exists. I just signed up and have a question about my 34 day old chicks I've had for 4 days.
They are outside in a tarped, mini hoop-coop, a little over 6'L x 4'H x 28"W with a 100w reflector light, after their first night here in a temporary, small, heated crate. There is a small 3 sided shelter they go in and out of inside the coop.
They're mostly feathered out, but 2 of them still have downy fluff on their necks and heads. The tack shop had just moved them to a regular un-heated cage a couple(?) of days before I picked them up. They had been housed indoors with about 50 other chicks, and the daytime temps at that time had been in the 90's, with night temps expected to get much cooler in a day or so.
Since the first night's temp at home was going to drop down into the 50's I put a heat lamp in for them, and they did stay near the lamp most of the night. They were moved to the coop the next day.
Last night it was to be 39-40 degrees here and somewhat windy, so, instead of leaving a part of the coop uncovered, I draped the entire coop. Everybody was telling me they'd be ok without heat and without covering it since they were feathered, but to me, a 50 degree temp change all of a sudden just seemed like too much for young chicks.
Am I being overly cautious? I always had chickens, but these are the first I've had in years. For years back then I always got day old chicks and never lost a single one to cold (or a heat stroke!lol) but a lot of things have changed for me in that time and maybe I AM being a bit too clucky with the baby girls?
Thanks so much for a place to ask!