Need some chicken advice ASAP

[wildeyed]

I have five pullets in the 5-6 week range. They have been out in the coop full time for the past few days and loving it. It has been pouring all day, and probably will through the night. The hen house is fairly dry, except a bit around the vents. The temps should remain around 70. OK to leave them in the coop tonight, or should I put them back in the brooder in the garage overnight? I hesitate to move them because they are finally getting the coop routine down, learning to go in on their own in the evening. I am afraid their little bird brains will get confused if I start taking them inside again. Plus they seem fine with the weather, I am the one stressing :( Thanks! I am a city girl, so I have no idea, other than books and message boards, what chickens need.

[here_is_to_hope]

1. If they are full feathered, you should be fine

I have seen my Pullets smile when its 15 below outside.
Now that I am in Oregon, they endure lows of maybe 30 and it's always a bit wet here.
They should be fine but they are your girls after all, lolz...

Oh, if you don't know about it, backyardchickens.com is the place to go!

[wildeyed]

4. They are fine, I am just being a mother hen, lol.

backyardchickens.com is usually my go to site for this kind of thing, but it must be slow there today, I wasn't getting many replies. But good ole DU is always there for me :) The pullets seem happy. We let them out for a little foraging and they seemed thrilled to eat clover and slugs. If they are eating, they must be fine.

[cornermouse]

2. Do their wing feathers cover their sides?

Do they had a streak of feathers down the middle of their backs? Do they have feathers on their breast? Can you hang a heat lamp out in the coop without setting the coop on fire? Another site to visit is feathersite.com

[wildeyed]

5. Funny that you mention fire.....

We actually caught the brooder on fire a few weeks ago. Actually, the dog did it. He got into the garage while we were out and got into the box with the chicks. The heat lamp fell into the bedding and caught it on fire. I got home in the nick of time, and, amazingly, all the animals were ok. In theory, I could put a lamp into the coop if I needed to. But I have a poor track record with that kind of thing ;)

[cornermouse]

7. They'll probably be okay.

They'll just pile on top of each other if they get cold.

[hollowdweller]

8. be very careful

Heat lamps start tons of fires.

[murphyj87]

3. You're set..

You're set for health care for a while, according to Sue Lowden.

[wildeyed]

6. I hope they will accept eggs instead!

I would hate to give up any of my chickens ;)

[fasttense]

9. If the chicks are fully feathered out which they should be by this age

You should not stress out so much and let them stay in the coop. Relax mom they will be fine. As for the heat lamp at 70 they should not need that either. Heat lamps can start fires so watch where you place that in the coop.