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Will baby chicks survive outside with a heat lamp?

My mom won't let me bring them indoors because they smell. I will be getting them in march or april so it will be around 40-50 degrees at night where I live. I have a heat lamp and I'm going to get 13 baby chicks so I wonder if they will be ok outside. I'm getting 7 australorps and 6 orpingtons.

Public Comments

1. they will not smell if you keep the box that you keep them in clean .i guess you mean peps .and if you don't keep them warm they will die quick and you should get a round container for them and put some hay in there with them so they can settle in to keep warm .fluffy hay not a lot of stems.when peps get cold they crowd each other and suffocate each other make sure they have plenty of food and water they should never be without .what are you going to do with the chickens ? make sure they are sexed for what you want .good luck i always like working with chickens.and watch out for the family dog
2. Congrats on your new chicks! We raise them also. Very fun and rewarding. I cant say I blame your mom though, they become very dusty, very quickly. You are also constantly making their living area clean, dry and bigger and bigger as they get older. I could type down all the specifics on raising them, heat requirements and all...or you could go to a great web site I lean on for help when I am stuck. Its called "Back Yard Chickens.com" You will find the answers to ANY chicken question you can ever think of. You may want to save it to your favourites. You will find yourself going back to them over and over again. Everyone there is GREAT. They have all sorts of information easily accessible. If there is ever something the site has left unanswered there is different chicken forums where you can ask questions. Good luck and again, congrats! They will be SO darn cute!!!!!
3. I live in Minnesota, and I got my chicks in April this year. It is still cold here, but I was able to keep them in our unheated barn by using a heat lamp. We made a four sided(no bottom-used a sheet of rigid pink styrofoam for insulation) box out of plywood about 3' x 4' (2' high walls). We screwed a piece of wood about a foot long onto the side that we could suspend the heat lamp from(in a corner). You need to get a thermometer so you can check the temperature(lay it on the floor of the box, directly under the heat lamp) and adjust the height of the lamp so that it is 90-95 degrees directly below the lamp at the coldest time of the day(night). As long as there is enough space, the chicks will adjust their location and sleep where the temp is most comfortable. I got 10 chicks. I started with newspaper sheets for the first week, until they are eating and drinking well, then switched to pine shavings. I left the light until the chicks were completely feathered, and the weather had warmed. Your mother is right, chicks don't belong in the house!! Good Luck! I love orpingtons, they are very gentle and sweet. www.backyardchickens.com is a good website.
4. Need to be in at least a garage or sealed outbuilding, since cats and raccoons will eat them and they can't stand drafts. Baby chicks need high temps== at least 90 degrees for a while until they grow bigger and start feathering out. Yeah, they would really stink inside the house, but you will need to build them a chicken house anyway for them to roost in, so you could just plan on building it to hold them while they are still chicks--like having some removeable walls to isolate them in a corner or something to keep them warm enough plus using the heat lamp too. Then when they get big enough you don't need the lamp you would take down the partitions so they have room to roam. Build a chicken house with an enclosed pen, and ideally make it portable so you can move it around the yard. They love fresh grass. Lots of sites online about caring for baby chicks and plans for building modest hen houses. Make sure you only get hens-- roosters will tend to crow and cause problems with neighbors. We have 7 buff orpingtons and they are really tame and friendly- and laying well now even with a foot of snow on the ground.
5. They need to be protected from drafts, rain, and of course, predators. They need a temperature of about 90 degrees day and night but don't put the heat lamp so close as to burn them. It would be good if you put the heat lamp in one corner of the brooding pen and they can move around and find the temperature they like. That ninety degrees can be reduced as the chicks grow, and I would highly recommend you experiment with a thermometer to get and maintain a temp. of 90 to 95 degrees in one spot big enough for all thirteen to huddle. Have fun.
6. good, then you've got a couple months to get their living quarters made up.... maybe this will help you get started...(you will be able to hook up the heat lamp to one of these, right?)make sure to allow room for it.... http://www.freechickencoopplans.com/ like the others said... they MUST be warm, no drafts... you have to be able to feed, water and handle them if they're to be tamed.... read all of that link ... there's really good info there.... http://www.chickendiy.com/how-to-build-a-chicken-coop/how-to-build-a-chicken-coop.php http://cheapestwebdeals.com/chicken-coop.php I've been looking but I can't find it just now... but the neatest coop/run I've seen has wheels on it on the house side, so you can lift it and move it to another area so the birds can get the bugs over there and have some greens, too!.... of course you could prob figger that out by yourself, huh?... http://greatchickencoopdesigns.com/ http://www.bishbashbo.sh/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/chickencoop2.png http://www.bishbashbo.sh/blog/?page_id=6 http://www.buildchickencoops.com/moveablechickenark.htm