4weeks old

[LarryH]

I moved my chicks to the coop which is quite large and has a dirt floor. They spend all day pecking at the ground. Is this okay? Also the nighttime temp is getting down to around 70 and I have no heat lamp in there. Is that okay?

 

[graciesmum]

I put mine out at 4 weeks, it's fine for them to peck at the ground, it is just normal chicken behaviour, also im not sure on the conversion but it drops to about 7 degrees Celsius here and mine are strong happy and healthy and about 8 ish weeks now

 

[Stewarts]

Mine went into the coup at 2 months. Our coup is insulated so it doesn't get too cold or too warm. If it is too cool, I'd add a heat lamp at night for them and turn it off for the day. Are there windows in your coup for natural light and air flow? We put straw on the wooden floor of our coup but scratching on a dirt floor is fine although it might prove a little hard to clean up as they mess a lot, hence the reason for the straw we use. Also, when they mess and it builds up, the ammonia smell inside the coup can get pretty strong. I recently had to muck out the coup because of that so its a good idea to add straw, shavings, sand or something you can clean out every once in a while. If its 70F at night you don't need a lamp. If the coup is not insulated and they are not yet fully feathered and its very cool at night, I'd use a heat lamp until the nights warm up some.

Stephanie