At what age can chicks go outside in a coop?

Hello,
I am new to raising chickens. I was wondering at what age can my chicks live outside in a coop. They are almost 3 weeks old and are still inside my house in a brooder. I turn the heat lamp off during the day because the temperature is around 80 in their room and turn it on at night because the temperature drops into the 70s. I have had them outside to play on the grass and they love it. So, I was wondering when can they live outside over night in the coop? Also when do I stop using the heat lamp? The weather in generally high 80s/90s during the day and 70s at night. I have read to lower the temperature of the heat lamp until you get to normal temperature in my area. Is that true?
Thank you for your help.

ricochetrascal3 said:

Hello,
I am new to raising chickens. I was wondering at what age can my chicks live outside in a coop. They are almost 3 weeks old and are still inside my house in a brooder. I turn the heat lamp off during the day because the temperature is around 80 in their room and turn it on at night because the temperature drops into the 70s. I have had them outside to play on the grass and they love it. So, I was wondering when can they live outside over night in the coop? Also when do I stop using the heat lamp? The weather in generally high 80s/90s during the day and 70s at night. I have read to lower the temperature of the heat lamp until you get to normal temperature in my area. Is that true?
Thank you for your help.

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Try an experiment. Don’t put the heat on tonight and see how they react. I don’t mean just go to bed, open doors or whatever it takes and let the room cool off when you can observe them before you go to bed.

If they always have light and it is suddenly dark they may be upset about that, but they should calm down in a few minutes. They tend to sleep in a group at night even if temperature is not a concern. They just like the company, it does not mean they are cold. If they handle the cooler temperatures OK you have you answer.

It’s hard to give exact temperatures that chicks can handle. Part of it depends on how fast they feather out. They feather out faster if they are on a high protein diet, say 20% versus 16% or even 18%. If they are exposed to cooler temperatures they acclimate themselves better than if they are thrust into cooler temperatures when they are only used to the tropics. Breed can make a difference too. Production type chicks may react better than decorative breeds.

How many chicks do you have? It doesn’t take a whole lot of chicks for them to generate a lot of warmth so they can keep each other warm. Remember day old chicks are shipped with no heat except each other to keep themselves warm, even in pretty cold temperatures.

Your outside facilities play a part too. If your coop has good draft protection they can manage much cooler temperatures than if they are exposed to the elements. Keep them locked in the coop for a few days, maybe a week. Your coop should be bigger than the brooder so they will enjoy the extra room.

I’ve seen chicks handle some pretty cool temperatures at very young ages. I certainly do not believe in the 90 for the first week and drop it 5 degrees each week after. That is extremely safe, maybe even a bit warm. But let’s go through the numbers just to make you feel better.

0 to 7 days …. 90 degrees
8 to 14 days … 85 degrees
15 to 21 days … 80 degrees.
22 to 28 days …. 75 degrees.

As you can see, after you pass 21 days you are extremely close already.

My 3’ x 6’ brooder is in the coop. I only heat one end and let the ret cool off as it will. In the winter I keep one end toasty but there have been days I’ve seen ice on the far bend. If it is that cold they are going to stay in the warm area, but at just a couple of weeks old you’d be surprised at how much time they spend in the cooler areas. Mine get acclimated and I normally have 15 to 20 chicks. I regularly turn the heat off at five weeks even if the overnight lows go a little below freezing.

Yours have not been raised that way so they are not as tough. But I’ve found they are a lot tougher than many people think.

I had always started at 85 and lower it by 5 a week, so you should be at 75, but they should be fine as long as there is enough chicks to pile but not enough to smother each other, drafts would be worst at that age.

Yeah, I’ve seen where some people start at 100, some at 95, and some at 90. It’s not an exact science at all.