Can they be without heat?

[Traffie Chickens]

lol ..my chicks just turned 1 week and theyre off external heat, depends totally on ambient and where theyre at, it stays almost 80f in the garage overnight .. during the day its way in the 90s, so theyre perfectly fine ..if its getting cold at night still though, id keep them artificially warm to 5weeks or so, at least be sure theyre blocked well from drafts ..

Ya, that’s nice that you don’t need to add any heat for them. Mine are in my basement where it is like 40f at night and 50f in the day. But we bring them outside in the day anyway.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I had chicks just under 5 weeks in the coop at 39F, no heat. Probably could've taken it away even sooner but one's a bit runty and the weather was a little hard to gauge so I played it safer.

Rosemarythyme is braver than I am. I've had chicks 5-1/2 weeks old go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no heat. They were raised in a large (3ft x 6 ft) brooder outside so were acclimated by playing well away from the heat during the day. Some mornings that brooder had ice in the far corner but where the chicks were was toasty until I took the heat away.

I've had broody hens wean their chicks at 3 weeks and leave them totally on their own but that was later in the year when the morning lows were in the 70's Fahrenheit.

Just because they can manage those temperatures doesn't mean you have to take the heat away. You do not want to start a fire so you need to be able to provide heat safely. Also, you need to give them a choice to get away from the heat during the day and at night if they want to. Keeping them too warm can be dangerous to them. There are many posts on here where people provide heat, using heat plates or something else, and the chicks never go near them.