Hi kmom. You are describing almost exactly my situation. We have the same temps: daytime 95 and up, nights in the 55-60 range. And I have my five week olds outside in an extra large (120lb dog refused to use it) crate. I only have 4 chicks and they pile on each other and seem to be doing fine. I do however cover the crate with a heavy paint drop cloth to prevent draughts. So from my experience they should do fine. The only danger would be if they piled too much and smothered--but my 9 eight week olds have been doing the same thing for weeks now and no one has suffered. Let us know what happens. It can get old moving so many chicks so many times a day. I know:0)
Beating the heat...
Thanks much, catscan. I have been to "Lodi" in three different states, and all 3 have the summer temps you describe!
The coop has 4 walls and most of the rafters are in, so I will see about throwing a tarp over the roof to keep out the drafts. It gets windy around sunset & sunrise, but once the sun is actually up or down, then it is pretty still outside.
Looking forward to sleeping in a half hour later in the mornings! (I had no idea that the babies would take over my life (and my laundry room)! But having a wonderful time.)
Thanks again!
kmom246,
Do you have a feel for the kind of predators that are wandering outside in your area at night? We lived in Carson City 6 yrs ago. We experienced quite a few skunks; with coyotes often heard in the distance and a few wandering loose dogs plus lots of night prowling cats. I hope your crate is secure from any animal that might want to get inside to eat your babies in the night. No one wants a deadly surprise in the morning. We did not have poultry when we were living there. I wonder if raccoons travel that far down out of the Sierra Mountains? I've seen raccoons as roadkill on Hwy 395 near Franktown when driving through the Washoe Valley to Reno. Best wishes. I used to drop off my son in Silver Springs to ride his skateboard at a park ... and I think they went to a water park there too. He was a skateboarder at 13 and now he's a drummer going to college?
Kelly in Moxee
My keets are slowly hatching one by one and I only had one silkie to hatch of course it has been close to 100 for the past week except today when I wanted to put the babies in the brooder and its only about 90 my poor silkie is hugged up to the light I am using in the brooder I need to put a thermometer in there. I hope she is warm enough.
If you can manage shade, shelter, and a little bit of ventilation they should be fine. I put mine out at 3-4 weeks, provided they have a little decent feather covering on top. They do still get put to bed at night -up off the ground about 2 ft to keep them from exploring until daylight and as a little protection against predation. As long as they are at least partly fledged they can fly down just fine and fend off most rain. A well ventilated shady area takes those awful 110* heat indexes down to more manageable temps but they will go through a ton of water and that should be kept shaded.
Also, fair feathered chicks do better in summer heat because they don't absorb it like the black ones.
Thanks, everyone, for your tips and concerns! This chicken adventure sure has been - adventuresome!
Our 5 acre lot here is completely fenced by 6 ft chainlink - which seems to keep out everything except ground squirrels and cotton tales. The chicken coop is 2 ft off the ground with 8 foot walls (no roof, still) and a door that locks. They are currently in the coop in two dog crates (ones designed for 100+ lbs dogs) with 4 inches of pine bedding. There are 14 in one and 13 in the other. This is their first night not in my laundry room, and I am trying to resist checking on them every 30 seconds! Supposed to get down to near 50* tonight. They have nearly all their feathers and fly pretty well.
I can hear the coyotes a mile or so away from us down at lake Lahontan. I haven't seen them actually "in the neighborhood," but it wouldn't be difficult to wander up our way as our dirt road heads straight into the State Park and down to one of the little riverletts that feed the lake. Occationally I have smelled skunk in the fenced garden area, and something once dug up my compost pile really well (saved me from turning it). But recently, I haven't had any visitors. The dogs go out at night from time to time to "patrol," so I'm hoping that, as long as the DOGs don't become the problem, they should scare away most preditors? The neighborhood used to be plagued by ferel cats until my weimaraner came to live with us - he is a known cat, rabbit and bird killer. Fortunately for chickens, unfortunately for him, he escaped during a high speed rabbit chase one day, and never came back. We looked all over, but he's been gone a month now, so I don't think he's coming back. I don't have the heart to remove the "lost dog" picture at the post office, yet.
Days staying around 95*F during the heat of the day. Taking longer to warm up, though (not going from 55 to 80 at sunrise any more - hangs out in the mid 70s for a few hours first. The chickens seem to really like this and are eating more in the mornings now. So far, destroying my patch of corn in the garden seem to be their favorite "heat of the day" occupation - the corn is well watered and about 4 ft tall, so there's lots of cool ground and shad - and they can pick at corn leaves, too. I am definately going to grow them some corn patches in their run next year. Of course, I'll have to create some sort of protection for it until it gets big enough to provide more than 30 seconds of chicken entertainment.
Thanks again, everyone!
