Are they feathered enough for outside? Rowdy Teenagers throwing Ragers..

[CatsandCrops]

Our rowdy teens (5-ish weeks old) are throwing some pretty big ragers downstairs in our basement - who knew they'd grow up so fast?! We have 9 total - one rooster and one who is a runt compared to everyone else.

Our coop is done with the exception of adding bedding and putting their food/water in. We're a few days out from finishing the fully enclosed run (we have a ton of predators so we had to bury hardware cloth and need to finish the one wall/door into the run). We know they need to stay inside the coop for a few days anyways if we move them out full time.

We're in North East Ohio and temps are anywhere from 48 up to 65 degrees F during the day and can get down into high 30s low 40s at night. Right now, inside our coop is averaging about 4-6 degrees warmer than outside air temp with no bedding or chickies in it.

The chicks have been weaned off the heat lamp for about a week now (ambient temp is around 62 in our basement) and are use to sleeping in the dark. Do you think they are feathered enough to handle heading outside for good? We took them outside to roam around in the coop for about an hour yesterday and they did fine (they have also been outside two other times on really warm days - like high 60s - thanks spring in Ohio! lol) but I'm nervous for long term out there. I have no problem brining them back inside during the night if needed; just trying to give them more space to roam and grow

 

[igorsMistress]

Yes, they can go outside. If your run is fully enclosed you don't need to keep the chicks in the coop for a few days. You might need to help them back to the coop at night or put a light in there and turn it off when you lock up.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks for providing all the temperature info, inside and out, as well as the fact that they've been off heat. SInce the coop is already done I'd move them out now and just keep them locked in until the run is done, that's an easy way to home them to the coop without any extra effort, and gives you additional time to finish the run.