Too cold outside for bantams?

I'm about to go let my birds out for the day and we are experiencing our coldest temperatures yet this winter and I am new to bantam keeping. It's -9 out right now and going up to -4 only with no wind.

Should I keep them inside? I do have a 175 watt heat lamp over their roosts that I'll leave on for the day which means they can return to it throughout the day as they come and go if I let them out.

Breeds are silkies, dutch and cochins.

I let my birds out every day, however cold the weather (we have weeks of -15C, occasional -25C). I trust them to stay in if they are feeling cold. I've had silkies and cochins, but not dutch. They all tend to go out at once, drink and poo and then some go back inside.

The turkeys, geese, white chanteclers and buckeyes stay out all day by choice.

But every location is different and your birds may not be used to it so keep an eye on them!

Thanks Heda. Ya, I don't want to coddle them and just needed reassurance that they would go in on their own if they get uncomfortable. I felt a bit guilty expressing concern at such reasonable temperatures compared to our northern and prairie friends' temperatures.

It is all relative though and may be a bit of a shock even because they aren't used to it. and you may be more damp than we are? who knows what affect that will have. But I do think it is good for them to be out daily - not just for physical health but to keep them mentally engaged and not picking on one another.

Time for chores -12C here today.

my bantams run out the door when i let them, it can get to -17 and some of them would still be outside. I find that my silkies only go out if all the other ones do. My old english bantams like to go out the most.

Mine are really keen too sultan--scrambling at the pop hole door like mad dogs, It's so darn cute. And ironically, it's my large fowl Ameraucanas and Wyandottes that tend to linger more inside the coop in this temperature. The bantams don't seem to mind it. I just needed to know they had the instinct to go back in to stay warm and not freeze to death outside. My silkies seem less 'aware', let's say than the other bantams so it was them I didn't trust. I forgot to mention I had silkies too.

I leave the door open i hope that when they are cold they will come back in. Havent had any issues with them not wanting to come back in tough. Usally once one goes in they all go in.