At what age are they fully feathered?

[From the North]

A spin-off of the "how fast do they grow" thread.

Also, my understanding is that once they are fully feathered, they can regulate their own temperature, is this correct? So if they are fully feathered at 6 weeks, can they go from indoors to outdoors fairly easily? I'm hoping in 6 weeks the outdoor temps will be in the 30-50 F range.

 

[salt and pepper]

Is that because this is a controversial or really dumb question? I see your reply and my immediate thought was "uh oh. did I open a can of worms here or what?". Hoping this doesn't turn into some kind of trainwreck???

Because I have multiple chicks that I want out of my house! Lol

 

[binza1979]

I just put my 5 to 7 weekers out in my coop. I put a heat lamp in the coop so they could have heat if they needed. It was in the high 20s last night. It was cold, but when I checked on them this morning, they were sleeping in a pile away from the heat lamp.

 

[debid]

Fully feathered is having feather coverage -- no more downy heads. It happens at different ages for different chicks. Some are feathered at 4 weeks while others take twice that (or longer, sometimes). If you can transition them a bit so they have a more gradual change, they'll be happier and you'll worry less.

I put mine in their coop with the pop door closed for the first week to transition. This way, they would be protected from wind and predators while learning that their new space was safe and dry. They seemed so excited to have more room! They slept in a chick raft at first but moved to the roost after a few nights.

 

[ArticStrat]

Tomorrow is two weeks for mine, with the exception of 6 Isa browns that I picked up from TSC which have been in 4 days longer than all of the others. I have 39 chickens and 4 turkeys in my brooder on the sun room. I love having them in. My wife and I were talking yesterday about how we will go into shock when they move to the coop in a few weeks.

 

[salt and pepper]

I like them inside for the first week, then I'm ready to put them out. lol. Unfortunately, it might be a while before they go out due to bad weather, and getting more chicks ( I want to put them out at the same time) Oh well, when they start laying, they are worth it =) I've been thinking about getting turkeys.. I'd only get two or three, their names would be thanksgiving, Christmas, and summer =) Lol, I just don't know as much about them.

 

[liljunie]

I have 2 9.5 weeks old, 4 that are 6.5 weeks and 4 that are 2.5 weeks and 35 eggs in the incubator. 19 due on Easter Sunday and the other 16 due to hatch on the following Thursday. I want to put the oldest 6 outs by this weekend to make room for the new chicks.

The older chicks are loving the finished basement...but they have overstayed their welcome. I wish the weather was a bit warmer!

 

[Feathers n Fur]

So glad I found this thread. I was hoping to put my 7 chicks out in the coop with a lamp or two next week they are currently 6.5, 5 and 4 wks old so by the time they go out they will be 7.5, 6 and 5 wks old. They've been in my basement for a month now and they stink despite the fact that I clean them out every three days. Since the gaming system is in the basement my teenage son complains of the smell. If a teenage boy complains of smell you know it's bad.

I was first thinking it was too early but after reading this thread, this coming weekend is coop day for sure!

 

[amynrichie]

I put all 31 of my 3 weekers outside (in the coop, not fully outside yet.) yesterday. Night temp got down to 32F. They have two heat lamps and they did just fine. When I peeked in, they were sleeping all together, but not piled up. They very readily jumped up to go get food and water, and to stretch out their wings. They are really loving having the space to try their flying skills.

I'm so glad to have them out of the house!

 

[MusiGal]

I have seven 5-weekers. I brought them outside for the first time on Friday and then again Saturday & Sunday...just for a few hours each day and they LOVE it. Of course, now I think they don't have enough room in the large cage I have them in our house. I have a 4' X 4' coop inside of a 10' X 16' X 6' enclosed run. The coop has no electricity, so no lights or heat lamps. It does have a sky light. It's raining today through Wednesday and the highs are all week are supposed to be in the mid to upper 60's with the lows in the mid to upper 50's...lowest low being Thursday night at 48. I'm thinking this weekend will be the grand move-in date.