Too Young for Outside?

[SuperflyMD]

We got our second batch of chicks a couple of weeks ago. They're growing quickly, and I'm thinking about next steps. It seems kind of silly to me to have them here in the air conditioning, then keep a heat lamp on them to keep them warm--especially since I live in South Texas and most days outside are upper 90s and low 100s.

I have a small outside coop I can use as a grow-out house. With the first batch I put them in at about 4 weeks, but I'm thinking of moving that schedule up considerably.

Any good reason not to put the silly little things outside sooner rather than later?

 

[cackleberrycam]

I would wait until the chicks are twelve weeks old. It really is a matter of "When are my chicks old enough to handle getting pecked at by the established hens?" There are many ways to introduce them, so I will give you a few.

One way is to separate them through a fence of chicken wire and let them interact through it while still not being able to fight each another. You can then eventually put them in together and their pecking order will not be so bad because they will already be somewhat accustomed to each other.

You can also put them on the roost full of the established hens at night so that when the established hens wake up in the morning and see all the new pullets with them, the will not realize that they are newcomers and will not treat them badly.

You can also just stick them right in with the hens and let them sort out the pecking order on their own.

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!

 

[SuperflyMD]

Thanks for the quick response.

The older girls are in their own large coop/run. The young ones would go into a separate (but nearby) small coop like this one to which I've added a home built run extension. The new girls would be protected, but could see (and be seen by) the previous batch. The adults could investigate but not penetrate the smaller coop when they free-ranging in the afternoons.

My main concerns are the lower temperatures at night (mid 80s) and when will the babies have enough feathers to flutter down from falls off the ramp that goes up to the little upstairs coop.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

If it's on their own, go for it. I even put two week old chicks in the main coop in their own cage with food and water, within a day they were off exploring, great fun sneaking out on me, scared the crap out of me, I was chasing those little fluffy butts out in the run, until I realized they had more hiding spots than I could count, now they just hangout, the big girls don't seem to care.

 

[Papas Chickens]

We got our second batch of chicks a couple of weeks ago. They're growing quickly, and I'm thinking about next steps. It seems kind of silly to me to have them here in the air conditioning, then keep a heat lamp on them to keep them warm--especially since I live in South Texas and most days outside are upper 90s and low 100s.

I have a small outside coop I can use as a grow-out house. With the first batch I put them in at about 4 weeks, but I'm thinking of moving that schedule up considerably.

Any good reason not to put the silly little things outside sooner rather than later?

I put my girls out in there coop at two weeks with no problem even in the arizona heat.

 

[SuperflyMD]

Good to know. I'll probably get their coop set up tomorrow, and move them in soon.

Thanks.

 

[cackleberrycam]

Thanks for the quick response.

The older girls are in their own large coop/run. The young ones would go into a separate (but nearby) small coop like this one to which I've added a home built run extension. The new girls would be protected, but could see (and be seen by) the previous batch. The adults could investigate but not penetrate the smaller coop when they free-ranging in the afternoons.

My main concerns are the lower temperatures at night (mid 80s) and when will the babies have enough feathers to flutter down from falls off the ramp that goes up to the little upstairs coop.

In that case, I would put them outside as soon as they are 6 weeks old.

 

[SuperflyMD]

So...I came home from a meeting today to find one of the chicks trying desperately to get back into the big box with her nest mates. She'd left evidence of her adventures nearby. Luckily, the dog was locked up, the poop only landed on tile, and my wife is out of town. Nobody had to lose their life today.

Clearly the box has outlived its usefulness, but I'm just not comfortable putting the chicks outside yet. I've decided on an intermediate approach. I've moved them to an old ferret cage, still in the house. They'll stay in it until they're big enough to get on each other's nerves, or they stink enough to get on my wife's.

By then temperature range won't be as crucial, and they can go to the intermediate coop. When they outgrow that, they learn their place in this world with the big girls.

 

[cackleberrycam]

So...I came home from a meeting today to find one of the chicks trying desperately to get back into the big box with her nest mates. She'd left evidence of her adventures nearby. Luckily, the dog was locked up, the poop only landed on tile, and my wife is out of town. Nobody had to lose their life today.

Clearly the box has outlived its usefulness, but I'm just not comfortable putting the chicks outside yet. I've decided on an intermediate approach. I've moved them to an old ferret cage, still in the house. They'll stay in it until they're big enough to get on each other's nerves, or they stink enough to get on my wife's.

By then temperature range won't be as crucial, and they can go to the intermediate coop. When they outgrow that, they learn their place in this world with the big girls.

Sounds great! Feel free to use the ways to introduce them to the older girls that I gave you.

Good luck!