- Jul 21, 2008
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I have 4 Americana chicks that are almost 5 weeks old. They are currently living in a medium size dog kennel (one of the plastic ones) and are being kept warm with a 75 watt light during the day and a seedling heat mat at night (I like to let them have lights out for sleep) which is enough to keep them warm in the bathroom. They are getting quite a few feathers and I have been planning on taking them out to the main chicken coop, in their dog kennel, to spend the night. I have a small enclosure that I have let them play in when the weather is good. Unfortunately this is turning out to be a cold, foggy summer, here on the north coast of California, and it is still in the high 40's at night and the days are in the low to mid 50's. I have thought of moving them out side with 1 to 2 small seedling heat mat(s) under the kennel at night. I have used a larger heat mat with a cardboard box on part of it during the day when it is not too cold and they seem to have tolerated it rather well. The small heat mats will heat to around 80 degrees and the large mat is connected to a thermostat so I can easily adjust the temperature of the mat. I want to move them outside as they are making a mess on a regular basis and even though I am changing the paper and other bedding twice a day they are beginning to smell. I also think that they like it better in the larger pen that they get to play in when outside. Any advice would be welcome, thanks a lot!
