thistlewick
Songster
Oh, sorry, I didn't mean this thread in particular - I meant anywhere and everywhere you google things. It's constantly parroted that 'they are babies and *only have down*' etcThe first thing most of us will ask when someone posts about sick chicks is, "What temperature are they at?" The guideline is just a recommendation by most chick experts, as are other things we may or may not agree with.
Once we observe our chickens and see how they are doing, we change for them.
I combed through and didn't see anyone saying that down was a horrible insulator so not sure who told you that. To the contrary, I used to catch guff on FB because we heat our coop (40F). I've gotten parroted the old, "they're wearing down coats and don't need heat" speech a number of times. I avoid FB unless I'm selling chicks.