Chicken noob in NM

[N F C]

Hi, congrats on your flock.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
As long as your coop is draft free and has lots of fluffy dry bedding those chicks do not need that heat lamp. Having it in there is a major fire hazard. I would remove it and let them acclimate.

 

[theoldchick]

 

[muddy75]

 

[sourland]

Hello, and welcome to BYC.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[Desert chicken tender]

Welcome to BYC! They honestly do not need the heat lamp and its a fire hazzard so I recommend removing it.

Thanks for the tip. I was honestly a bit hesitant for that reason and only used it their first night. They seem to be doing fine without.

 

[Desert chicken tender]

Hi and welcome! At five weeks and 50° I am not sure they need a heat lamp. They are fully feathered and if they get cold they can snuggle together. In your middle picture I notice they are as far away from the lamp as they can get, which may indicate they are actually too hot. If you want to keep the lamp in there, angle it so it only heats one corner of the coop, leaving other areas cooler, so they can regulate their comfort level by moving to the areas they prefer to be. Also, anchor the lamp some way so it can't possibly fall and start a fire. Every day blow the dust off the bulb and housing to prevent a fire. Confrats on becoming a new "chicken tender!"

I did exactly that after taking that photo, and only made use of it the first night. They made it through their second night, without it, just fine. I wasn't 100% comfortable with that idea to begin with.

 

[janiedoe]

Thanks for the tip. I was honestly a bit hesitant for that reason and only used it their first night. They seem to be doing fine without.

I'm glad you've decided to forgo the heat lamp. We recently had someone join who had, had two coop fires due to heat lamps.
I live in Texas and our winters aren't too bad but the hardest thing for me to get past was wanting to add heat or cover windows in cold weather.
I've learned from observation that they don't need as much heat as we think they do.
I've raised almost all my chicks outdoors with hens or a mama heating pad. At 3 days old, they run around in below freezing weather and just snuggle under mama, or their heat cave (when I raise them) when they get chilly.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

Down here in the South Central Mountains of NM! So glad you decided to join us. Make yourself at home here and enjoy your new babies!