Yes, You Certainly Can Brood Chicks Outdoors

Personally incubating eggs in deep winter isn’t something I’ve ever done, or would do. Sometimes broodies don’t pay attention to calendars or weather conditions - when their hormones kick in they get to work. Silly chickens! We do pay attention to the calendar.

Yep, I’ve hatched eggs here when early springtime temps are still dropping into the teens and twenties. That happens despite much of the the rest of the country enjoying more acceptable “chick season temps”. We can - and have - had snow here in June. All chicks get a couple of days indoors under Mama Heating Pad and then out they go. I want to make sure they are eating, drinking, and know how to use Mama Heating Pad to warm up. I don’t handle raising home-hatched chicks any differently than feed store or shipped chicks. Once the chicks are using Mama Heating Pad and aren’t showing shipping or hatching stress I put them outside under the outdoor Mama Heating Pad, set up and warmed and waiting for them in the outside brooder. Since they use it indoors, they automatically find it and transition right to it in the new setup. Sometimes I have to show them where it is when they first go out by tucking them under it hand holding my hand in front of it, but that only takes once. Even more remarkable, the chicks I hatched out here at home were Silkies - supposedly so delicate anyway

My friend @Ridgerunner raises all of his chicks outdoors from the start as well but he uses a heat lamp setup. It’s worked beautifully for him for years. He was raising incubator hatched chicks outdoors well before I was, with great success, so that’s another avenue you might explore. He has a lot of posts showing his setup.

Nobody puts chicks wet from hatching out there (except non-calendar-reading broodie hens) so once hatched they would spend at least a few days in an indoor brooder. You’d want to keep an eye on them for any hatching stress or issues anyway.

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks!! I’m glad it was helpful!

I’m sorry I didn’t see this before now and hope I’m not too late with a response. If your chicks have had a heat lamp for two weeks (regardless of whether in your home or the supplier, or the combination) I’m not sure they could deal with a switch at this time. As for putting them out without any heat source, since you don’t have power out there yet, I wouldn’t until you’ve been able to completely and gradually wean them off heat. That can take a few days...even a week or more. They have to acclimate to cooler temps and they have to get used to darkness at sunset. They’ll throw a royal chickie temper tantrum, especially when it gets dark, so you’ll have to pour a glass of wine while they have their whine. And they’ll huddle. They do that more for security than warmth, although it provides both. They don’t like change and suddenly the only constant they’ll have is each other. I hope I’ve answered your questions. I did it with my first batch - evicted their little hineys even though it was still cold, but mine were 5.5 weeks old and getting nicely feathered. I’d hesitate to advise it at 2 weeks. I got lucky but I’d never do it that way again, nor would I advise anyone else to. Starting them off outside is far less stressful on them and on me than giving them that much time to get used to one thing then yanking it away.

Another comment I didn’t see. I’m falling down on the job here! That setup looks amazing!!! Congratulations and I’m so glad you found us!

It’s not as hard or scary as it sounds.....well, okay, yes, it’s scary. The first time. But I just got a shipment of chicks today and guess where they’re going tomorrow! LOL

That is exactly the response I was hoping to get! Thank you!

I appreciate your taking the time to review. I’ll never, ever raise chicks indoors again.

Thank you! Hope you found it helpful!

You are so welcome! Mine thrive even in temps in the teens and twenties, so your Florida climate should present no heat issues as far as keeping chicks warm.

I'm glad that you found it helpful! It's a whole new world when you can raise them outdoors and not have to turn a room in your home into a mini-coop! LOL

You CAN do this...I ain't the brightest crayon in the box and it has always worked for me! If you have any questions or problems, there is a Mama Heating Pad thread and lots of people there to help. I am traveling extensively this year, so I'm not on BYC as much as I used to be.

It is a GIANT leap of faith, isn't it? But I figure, if a two pound hen can do it without experts, charts, web sites, books and heat lamps, why do we do it so differently and think we're doing it better? Your setup looks like it's working very well for you!