Putting 3 week old chicks in the coop with heat lamp

aoxa said:

No bashing! You did good!!

I always take it away from them at 4 weeks in the basement, which is roughly the same temps. 50-60 depending on the day. They did just fine.

I hardened the babies off by opening the windows in the basement in February. Had 5 week old chicks in there with roughly 35-40 degrees. They feathered out quicker this way, and I believe will do better in the long run.

To the Original Poster:

Please read my fire safety thread, and make sure what you do with your heat lamps outside is done properly. Please don't use extension cords.. Fire marshall told me that is an accident waiting to happen.

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No Bashing here either. i do use an extension cord, but being in the electrical business, the cord is not something you will find at Wally World.

Same-ish here, but no extension cord. It's actually not a coop, but it IS subject to the changing weather. It's an outdoor rabbit hutch with a large piece of plywood on top. The entire bottom is wire, and three sides are wire with one "end" being solid wood (about one foot along each side, and the end itself). It stops WIND, but doesn't stop drafts from coming up from the floor, or from the rest of the hutch. When the hutch was used for a rabbit, that end was just meant to give him some privacy, while still letting people see the rabbit, and letting his droppings fall to the ground below.

Brooder lamp reaches to the nearest outlet on it's own and sits on that "privacy" area. In the other corner by the brooder lamp is a piece of plywood to give them solid "ground" to stand on. No other heat source. I hatched chicks all through out winter (in Georgia, but the temps still got in the 10's) putting them in the hutch at only 3 days old. None of them had problems based on temperatures.

As a matter of fact, the only problems I've ever had were based on chicks being dropped (from the hands of a standing adult), chicks that were rained on while still in the hutch (niece removed the top and forgot to replace it), and chicks that were killed by a fox after moving out of the old rabbit hutch.

Our friend is an electrician so I will get extension cord advice from him. Maybe he has a safe cord I can borrow. My chicks will be 2 weeks old on Monday. I dont know if I am emotionally ready to put them outside in one week!

when is a safe time to move my chicks and ducks out to cold garage with heat lamp on they are about 4 days old but smell terrible..so messy always cleaning up on them..

I was wondering the same thing. My chicks are 4 weeks old and I have introduced them to the coop multiple times. They are my first flock and I am very overprotective of them. I have a 250 w red bulb to put on a lamp but I am weary of putting it on an extension cord outside. Nights in Ohio right now are about 30 to 50 degrees and all this week it is supposed to be high 70s during the day. I would really appreciate the input. My chicks are gaining weight and are almost fully feathered, is this good for their age?

Newbie chicken farmer, here. So, the girls are now 6 weeks old and the weather has finally broke. It’s time for coop introductions. Question: Where in the coop/run area do you place them?
Nesting box? Roosting area? Ground under the coop area? Directly in the run area?

Pilot2012 said:

Newbie chicken farmer, here. So, the girls are now 6 weeks old and the weather has finally broke. It’s time for coop introductions. Question: Where in the coop/run area do you place them?
Nesting box? Roosting area? Ground under the coop area? Directly in the run area?

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I'm fairly new to this so don't quote me but I putt them into the coop so they will learn to walk down the ramp. Mine are so stubborn! Then they walk wherever they want when they actually use the ramp.