Will my 5-6 wk old chicks be okay in the cold (cold!) weather?

Annie44

In the Brooder
6 Years
Feb 12, 2013
61
3
43
Massachusetts
Today the chickies just went into the coop, but a cold spell just happened and now its down to 35 degrees. I put two heat lamps in there: under the lamp at around 10:30 - 11:00 it was just a little under 60. My chickens appear very close to being fully feathered (No downy fluff is visible except on their faces, where it is very sparse) and they are ameraucanas. I gave them newspaper bedding for just today, as they were *really* too big for their brooder and I couldn't go to the store to get the anything else... They're in a 6x7 area with roosts. When I went to check on them, they were all asleep huddled under the heat lamp, one chicken went as far as to sit on top of another (they both looked very cozy
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).

Will my chickies be okay? How low can they go?

Chickies are 5 - 6 wks old, temp is 35, under heat lamp is 58 ish.

Thanks
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EDIT: My profile pic is a picture of them at 3 wks old -- Now they are currently much, much more feathered
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They should be OK, though they really need hay or something else fluffy they can snuggle into. And to be able to move away from the heat. If they've had heat until they were moved, it may take them a few days to get acclimated.
 
They should be OK, though they really need hay or something else fluffy they can snuggle into. And to be able to move away from the heat. If they've had heat until they were moved, it may take them a few days to get acclimated.

Okay, thank you for responding
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Just checked on them now --- they seem to be fine. I'll go to the store today to get bedding. They were able to move away from the heat. By getting them acclimated, do you mean live in the coop without the heat lamp?


Thanks!
 
Acclimated, meaning become used to the colder temps without supplemental heat. If they are used to warmer temps 30's is pretty cold until they have become more used to it, so offering a heat lamp in one area is not a bad idea.
 
Acclimated, meaning become used to the colder temps without supplemental heat. If they are used to warmer temps 30's is pretty cold until they have become more used to it, so offering a heat lamp in one area is not a bad idea.


Thanks! At what temperature do you think I can turn the heat lamp off? My plan was maybe keeping it on in the warmer part of the day and off at night
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