7 week old chick question...

[Red]

My little babies are now not-so-little babies at 7 weeks old. They are such beautiful babies, although out of five chicks four are boys

But they are sweet little boys and we have already checked with a nearby farmer that he wants them when they are fully grown. They can free-range with his other chickens and sheep, and i can go visit them which will be nice

Anyway, my question is how old should chicks be before they can go outside?

I've been taking them out for a few hours a day since they were 4 weeks old, and when they were 6 1/2 weeks old they were moved outside into a 4 by 10foot coop with a house attached. However i've been bringing them in at night just to be safe, and they're sleeping inside without a heatlamp.

They are 7 weeks old tomorrow, so are they now old enough to stay outside throughout the night as well as the day? This week the coldest it is supposed to get is 7*c (44.6 F according to google

) - is this warm enough? These are our first chicks without a broody, and i just want to be sure i'm doing this right!

Thank you everyone

 

[Cats Critters]

My chicks moved out to the coop at 2 1\\2 weeks with a heat lamp and where aloud in the pen with me there at 3 weeks for short time periods. at 8 weeks in Western Pa they have no heat lamp and assess to the pen all day and free range with me there.

 

[gritsar]

My chicks have been outside in a shed since day one. We used the heat lamp and an oil-filled heater to keep them warm for the first few days, then just the heat lamp after that. Now mine are 4 1/2 weeks old and living in of all places, our screened in porch; with a heat lamp for those cold, windy nights and nothing during most days. I do put the lamp on if the day is unusually damp. They WILL be in their coop by the end of the week, if Mother Nature ever quits dumping on us.

Since they all avoid their lamp at this point, the heat lamp will be part of their coop, but I don't anticipate using it again anytime soon.

 

[Red]

Thanks for the replies - gritsar, good luck getting your chicks out

We just moved our chicks out to their run this morning, and it feels freezing outside - it's cloudy and the sun hasn't had chance to warm things up yet so it feels really cold! I'm gonna watch how they behave for a few minutes, and then decide whether they'd be able to cope outside tonight...

I don't mind bringing them in every night, but it stresses them out quite a bit. They don't settle down for ages, and wonder round the brooder in the dark peeping loudly and doing the danger call! I have to go down and cuddle them all to get them to go to sleep, and if they get disturbed the whole thing starts over again and they get really upset. Sunny, our only girl, even tries flying out of the brooder and i'm so worried she's gonna hurt herself. The sooner they can stay outside the happier they'll be!

Would anyone else leave them out, or would you continue to bring them in for a while longer?

 

[Cetawin]

I would bring them in and keep a night light on for them so the darkness does not bother them so and they should settle down.

If you leave them outside, give them a heat lamp and that will give them warmth and some light to see inside the coop to move around. 44 is a bit cold to leave them outside all night and not enclosed with a heat source. At 7 weeks they are not fully feathered and big enough to keep warm safely at those temps. IMHO