Are my Bantams ready to go out?

[jgessentials]

Hello,

We are situated in Southern California zone 9, in the next 2 weeks the temps are 75 to 80 during the day and in the 50s at night.
Our coop is similar to this one except it only has the top air vent:
https://www.mypetchicken.com/images/product_images/Popup/Clubhouse8553-2.jpg

Our 4 Bantams are now 4 weeks old and we would like to know if this is a good time for them to go into their coop. If yes, do they need the heat plate at night?
They are used to 70 in the house at night and the last couple nights they have not used the heat plate at all.

I know many suggest chickens don't need any heat at all as adults but was wondering if they need something for this transition as they are only 4 weeks old. But I wonder how you would transition them off of a heat source in their coop.
So I guess I am looking for guidance in order to make this as stress free a transition as possible for them.

How does one know if a chicken is fully feathered or feathered enough to be out in 50 degrees. They all look well feathered except for the silkie, but we are not really sure what she is supposed to look like at this awkward age
Thank you!
Julien

 

[Chickassan]

I personally had my littles out at eight weeks and no they won't need the heat plate. I'm not sure on silkies I don't have experience with those. I do know your chicks will cry and whine and make you feel terrible the first few nights do be prepared for that.

 

[Rickba]

4 weeks old is young for bantams in 50 degree weather. You should wait at lease 2 more weeks minimum. I have a coop similar to that one and I would suggest you re-enforce the coop. The screen are easy to push in. Any roaming dog or pred's will push in the screen and kill your chickens. Also, you will need to put hardware cloth around the bottom to keep out the diggers. As bought these aren't very strong but some upgrades they are nice coops.
As you can see I cut a 2x4 I had and cut it into 1/4 inch lattice strips. I put exterior liquid nail on the screen then tacked the lattice over it. When it dried it locked the screen in between the lattice and the frame. You can see the 48" hardware cloth bent in half then attached to the bottom of the coop. That makes a double strength 24" ring around the bottom and a 24" skirt on the ground to keep out diggers. You can't see it here but I planted grass seed that grew up through the screen and locked it down. A pred'r will have a difficult time getting to my chickens. Second pic you can see the grass growing through the screen.
Hope this helps.

 

[jgessentials]

4 weeks old is young for bantams in 50 degree weather. You should wait at lease 2 more weeks minimum. I have a coop similar to that one and I would suggest you re-enforce the coop. The screen are easy to push in. Any roaming dog or pred's will push in the screen and kill your chickens. Also, you will need to put hardware cloth around the bottom to keep out the diggers. As bought these aren't very strong but some upgrades they are nice coops.
As you can see I cut a 2x4 I had and cut it into 1/4 inch lattice strips. I put exterior liquid nail on the screen then tacked the lattice over it. When it dried it locked the screen in between the lattice and the frame. You can see the 48" hardware cloth bent in half then attached to the bottom of the coop. That makes a double strength 24" ring around the bottom and a 24" skirt on the ground to keep out diggers. You can't see it here but I planted grass seed that grew up through the screen and locked it down. A pred'r will have a difficult time getting to my chickens. Second pic you can see the grass growing through the screen.
Hope this helps.

Thank you! We placed the coop inside a chain link fence enclosure (dog run) which I covered with hardware cloth similar to the way you did it. I am still putting the finishing touches on it and will share a picture here soon for feedback. Thank you for the reply, I guess we will keep them inside a little while longer to allow them to grow a little bigger. We may need to get them a bigger temporary set up inside the house.

 

[Ridgerunner]

To get them used to a heat source in the coop, just safely put the heat source and the chicks in the coop and walk away. They will figure it out at 4 weeks. I do that with my chicks straight out of the incubator, even with the outside temperatures below freezing. I do set them down in the warm spot but there may be ice on the far end. Even at that age they quickly figure it out.

A heat plate that will not heat the entire coop, even one that small, especially if you have decent ventilation, at least not that much. The far parts of the coop will cool off quite nicely with decent ventilation. That’s the ideal situation, a warm spot they can go to warm up if they want to but cooler spots to play in. By four weeks old my chicks spend a lot of time in the cooler far end of my 3’ x 6’ brooder. They get acclimated by being out there.

I don’t know if your chicks still need supplemental heat at that age in those temperatures. As long as you can do it without creating a fire hazard it’s good insurance. You may find they don’t use it at all, but they might. They certainly won’t need it after another two weeks.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you feel that they still need a bit of night time heat, you could make them a huddle box or a wool hen if you don't want to put your heat plate in the coop. What ever fits your comfort level. It's been 46 years since I've had bantams!!!!

 

[Folly's place]

My chicks, both bantams and standards, go to their area of the coop at about three weeks of age, with their heat lamp. As they get comfortable and feather out, they use the heat source less, and then go out with the adults, and stop needing the extra heat, by five or six weeks of age. Mary