TanisGirl
Chirping
- Jul 6, 2018
- 40
- 36
- 89
So, I’m really new at this.. I have 3 new chicks (SLW’s), 4 weeks old. NOTHING like my Silkies were as babies.
They have been in the brooder inside, but have been a bit of a menace. They keep jumping out of the 40 Gallon Rubbermaid container I have them set up in (worked perfectly for my Silkies this summer).
I need to get these girls out into the coop with my others ASAP, but I’m worried cuz the temps are getting colder outside here in the PNW. Last (and only) actual chicks I’ve had were this summer -a much easier time to raise).
Normally, I have the white light on them in the day, the red light on at night and usually from 1-4, I put them in a smaller pen out in the big pen so they can get sunshine, dust baths, scratch for bugs, and get familiarized with the others. Last night was our last unusually warm day/night of the year 84/51. So, they went outside and slept in the coop with the others. It stayed around 70 inside the roost where (4) 13 week old Silkies and 2 hens sleep. I checked on them, 2 of the Silkies (both males I think) were piled up with the SLW babies, keeping them warm. I brought them in this morning because it’s was only going to get up to 64 today. So I put them back in the brooder with the light in for part of the day and then turned it off completely again. They were fine -running around like normal, scratching, eating, knocking over their waterer -being their normal “spirited” selves. I checked temps for tonight and it says down to 41. So, I opted to keep them in the house instead of putting them out to roost with the kids again but opted to go without heat lamps tonight to see how they behave -if it’s too cold for them or if they seem to be doing well with it. It’s later in the evening now and this is the first night they haven’t been a handful -up playing at all hours and making a ruckus, jumping out and terrorizing the dog. They are asleep but not piled on top of one another under where the light normally shines.
My Silkies slept through the night once I put a towel over their brooder. These guys are up for a while and then sleep for a while, then up for a while and then sleep and so on...
I’ve heard that dropping the temps for them and exposing them to lower than the normal 5 degree drop every week helps them feather out faster.
I read on here that 1 woman put her 3 week old chicks out with the others and they did fine. Don’t know what time of year it was for them though. It’s 71 in my house. So, I doubt they’re going to freeze. We are not trying to put heat lamps on the kids out in the coop until the whole crew needs it and temps are truly low enough for that.
Can I get thoughts on this, please?
They have been in the brooder inside, but have been a bit of a menace. They keep jumping out of the 40 Gallon Rubbermaid container I have them set up in (worked perfectly for my Silkies this summer).
I need to get these girls out into the coop with my others ASAP, but I’m worried cuz the temps are getting colder outside here in the PNW. Last (and only) actual chicks I’ve had were this summer -a much easier time to raise).
Normally, I have the white light on them in the day, the red light on at night and usually from 1-4, I put them in a smaller pen out in the big pen so they can get sunshine, dust baths, scratch for bugs, and get familiarized with the others. Last night was our last unusually warm day/night of the year 84/51. So, they went outside and slept in the coop with the others. It stayed around 70 inside the roost where (4) 13 week old Silkies and 2 hens sleep. I checked on them, 2 of the Silkies (both males I think) were piled up with the SLW babies, keeping them warm. I brought them in this morning because it’s was only going to get up to 64 today. So I put them back in the brooder with the light in for part of the day and then turned it off completely again. They were fine -running around like normal, scratching, eating, knocking over their waterer -being their normal “spirited” selves. I checked temps for tonight and it says down to 41. So, I opted to keep them in the house instead of putting them out to roost with the kids again but opted to go without heat lamps tonight to see how they behave -if it’s too cold for them or if they seem to be doing well with it. It’s later in the evening now and this is the first night they haven’t been a handful -up playing at all hours and making a ruckus, jumping out and terrorizing the dog. They are asleep but not piled on top of one another under where the light normally shines.
My Silkies slept through the night once I put a towel over their brooder. These guys are up for a while and then sleep for a while, then up for a while and then sleep and so on...
I’ve heard that dropping the temps for them and exposing them to lower than the normal 5 degree drop every week helps them feather out faster.
I read on here that 1 woman put her 3 week old chicks out with the others and they did fine. Don’t know what time of year it was for them though. It’s 71 in my house. So, I doubt they’re going to freeze. We are not trying to put heat lamps on the kids out in the coop until the whole crew needs it and temps are truly low enough for that.
Can I get thoughts on this, please?
