7 week-old chicks - can they move outside now in MA?

[ThatTeowonna]

Thank you. I will try to do what you suggested a while ago... close in the run (leaving some ventilation at the top, and add a floor... make the whole thing a cop. I should have time to do this before they arrive. Thanks again for the good advice.

I’m going to use this coop instead.

 

[ThatTeowonna]

I’m going to use this coop instead.

 

[AOrchard]

I have my 6 week olds outside with a mama heating pad right now, and have had as young as two weeks outside with a mama heating pad in winter. I'm in Wisconsin, 0-30 degree F is common. Protect them from wind and wet (think tarps).

Adapt slow if you are coming from an indoor brooder. Put their brooder in a sheltered but chillier place (entryway, garage, etc) for a few days before moving totally outside. Let them acclimate.

Move them right into the mama heating pad at night the first night, and put them all back in the next evening at sunset if they haven't figured it out. Usually they learn fast. Night 3 they've almost always tucked themselves into the mama heating pad themselves.