Age to live outside?

[chickcorner]

I put mine out in the barn/ coop after 2 weeks with 2 heat lamps, still the nights get cold and I was so nervous the first night I sleep out there with them. So far so good they love the space and I did get them out of the kitchen.

 

[TheChickenCameFirst]

Quote:
I am doing the same thing, though mine were peeping quite loud last week when I tried no light for awhile. I also am trying to teach them to go "home" at dusk. I thought a light would encourage them, but tonight will be the 4th night I have to put them in there. Hopefully they will learn soon! LOL

Mine always head toward the coop at dusk, I didn't teach them too, so I have no idea how it happened!

I'm glad they do though, it makes them very easy to put away in the evening. They went cold turkey with no light their first night in the coop, and they seemed fine. mine were older though, 10 weeks at the time, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[Chocobroc]

Quote:
Well, I keep reading that the temp needs to be around 95 degrees their first week minus 5 degrees each additional week. Not sure if there is a limit on when this 5 degree subtraction ends, but at 9 weeks that would be a 40 degree difference at 55 degrees. Which mean it still might be a bit cold for them, but if they are fully feathered, I would think they would be fine.

I guess it really depends on them and see how they behave. They produce a lot of body heat when they huddle together so I think they would be fine.

 

[iBoodle]

They survived!

I live in the West. It got down to 45 degrees last night. When I came out to check on them, they were up and eating.

It is about 75 out right now.

I don't use a lamp either. When they were chicks, I put a regular light bulb in one of those hardware lamps and put that over their box. I took that away about 1 week ago because they looked a little warm.

Thanks for the advice!