I have 12 chicks born on 10/17. They are in my garage now with no heat lamp and the temp in the garage is about 20-30 degrees warmer than the temps outside. I need to get them outside in the coop, but the temps for the next week will be lower 30's for a high and lows in the teens. Will they be alright or will they freeze to death? They are completely feathered out.
I have 45 or so chicks hatched on 10/16/13. By four weeks old they were all feathered out and outside in their own (standard and bantams separate) coops with no additional light. They were in the house in brooders for the 1st two weeks, then went into oudoor brooders with heat lights. As it warmed up in the afternoons I turned the lights off, all were comfortable and pecking around just fine. Our nights dropped down in the 20's that 1st week, I had to show them to roost instead of piling up but they were excellent every morning. Just wean them to the outside temps by opening the door a bit more over time because if you just put them in the coop and it drops in the teens at night they may still pile up for warmth and someone could get smothered. Good luck and I hope you don't have too many cold night walks ahead of you- I went down to the coop at dark every night for the first two weeks just to make sure everyone was where they should be and not on the ground!
