At what point should I put my pullet's outside full time?

From Ideal Poultry's website, care tips for chicks: "Proper temperature at bird level under the brooder or heat lamp for the first week is 90 to 95 degrees. Reduce the temperature 5 degrees each week for the first five weeks. After that time the poultry will normally not require supplementary heat. Remember, baby poultry need to be provided with enough space so that they can move to the heat or away from the heat source according to their needs."
 
first of all THANK YOU gritstar!!!! I love clarification like that. It reaffirms that Iv done things right. and Morgan please feel free to ask anything you like on my threads. I appreciate additional questions being asked. Most of the time they are questions I hadn't or wouldn't have thought to ask thus educating me even more. Thanks!
 
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In a draft-free coop they should still do fine. They're not likely to use their roosts at first, so cushion the floor with a little extra bedding for them to snuggle down into as insurance.
 
Sounds like you've pretty much weaned your girls off the heat now - fully feathered - and you can provide a heat lamp in the coop for overnight low temps. I'd move them out today in spite of the rainstorm coming. Following the sage advice of others here on BYC, here's what I did when I made the move. I kept my girls confined to the coop for close to a week so that they understood it was their new home and the safe place to go when it got dark outside. I had the heat lamp on in the coop and the temp. read 70 right under the lamp and between 55-60 in the cool corners of the coop. I turned the light off if the ambient daytime temp was 60 or better. Around day 5 or 6, I opened their pop door, but didn't shoo them into the run. I let them take their time and get up the nerve to negotiate the ramp when they got brave enough. I set up water and give them greens and treats in the run area, but kept their chick crumbles only in the coop. That encouraged them to go back up the ramp and into the coop throughout the day when they got hungry. I had to round them up and put them to bed the first night, but only because the wind was blowing a gale and it was getting very cool before sundown. 2nd day in the run, I turned the light on in their coop about 1/2 hr. before sundown. Went out to check on them about 1/2 hour after sundown and they'd put themselves to bed
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The whole transition went very smoothly.

You are SO going to enjoy reclaiming your house and watching your girls hop/fly/run with joy in their new digs
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I live in Florida. Daytime temps in the 90's and night in the upper 60's. I stuck my pullets out at 3 weeks. Kept flying out of the brooder. They are doing just fine. Have had no problems.
 
Mother-jean Thanks for the transition tips. I think I'll try your approach. I have to go buy a new heat bulb (and a cage for the lamp) but I think that is just exactly what I'll do. My girls LOVE their pen. It's not HUGE but it works nicely for our need's and they will get to roam my little garden as soon as we move on to creating a fenced off area for them to hang out in. I think just to be safe (since Iv had so many health concerns over Jasmin) I'll make sure to wait till AFTER the storm just to be on the safe side. I'll post pic's ASAP. I'm so proud of my DH's and my work on our upcycled coop and run... it's VERY tacky and shabby but it's as safe as we can make it and ....WE MADE IT lol. so I'm proud of it.
 
Mrs. Green Thumbs :

I'm so proud of my DH's and my work on our upcycled coop and run... it's VERY tacky and shabby but it's as safe as we can make it and ....WE MADE IT lol. so I'm proud of it.

Ahh, but that equals CHARM. You know, like real estate ads (especially for the Central Coast): Picturesque charm, quaint features.

I know that sense of "I made this!" pride. Sure warms the heart! And once the chickens are living there full time, it's even better. Enjoy your handiwork and your fluffy girls!​
 
if you are going to use chicken wire for the run I would wait until their heads are bigger than the holes. Hardware cloth is better for this as well, not just predator prevention. When we were letting our barred rock and buff orphington have days out to visit their older sisters we had to watch out for the rock getting stuck in the holes. We dont have predator problems where we are so I went with the chicken wire. Would have gone with the smaller holes if I would have seen this behavior first.
 
Most of our supply's were donated so we can't be picky, the run is made out of horse wire... it's VERY strong, VERY predator safe, and has VERY large holes. Id say 1 maybe 1 and a half inch holes. So were going to go around the bottom with the chicken wire we took off the rabbit hutch (we turned it into the coop) and run that along the bottom of the pen. That way the girls can't stick their head's out of the pen. I'm also debating on making the back and sides of the run solid in case they have a predator problem at least they can run to a solid corner.... I have a sneaking suspicion that this pen will be an ongoing project.
 

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