Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.
I’m getting 4 chicks next week, and they’re all gonna be around 2 week old when I get them. Breeds are unknown as my friends who’s giving them to me was hatching eggs donated by a local farmer I’m currently wondering about the temperatures we have, right now they range from 4-10 degree Celsius.
4-10 C = 39-50 Fahrenheit.
Too young to be sexed. Not feathered out so they are not ready to live in those temperatures unheated.
I want the chicks to have some outside time, would they be ok going out for about 30-minutes everyday?
Good idea. It will help them feather out faster and get them acclimated to colder temperatures. Broody hens can raise chicks even when there is snow on the ground. The chicks come out from under her to eat, drink, and play, then go back under her to get warm when they need to.
I don't know how long your chicks will be able to be outside in the cold. That partly depends on how well they are acclimated and feathered, how cold it actually is, and if a breeze is hitting them. You want to protect them from a breeze, they can get cold really quickly in a wind. They will tell you when they are cold. They will stand still, fluff up, and give a horrible peeping sound that tells you they are miserable. Instead of going by the clock go by what they are telling you.
Also concerned about breed mixing. I currently have 3 silkies, one rooster and 2 hens. The hens are extremely docile, while the rooster is the opposite and can be territorial. The chicks are supposed to be like, regular chicken size. Will my silkies get bullied by the chicks even if they’re older? Or will the silkie rooster try to attack them?
They are living animals, you never know what will happen. People get so tied up by breed that they forget that they are living animals and about anything can and sometimes does happen. From what I've seen size is not important. Bantams often dominate full-sized fowl. Each chicken has its own personality, each flock has its own dynamics.
Maturity usually has a big effect on how they get along. While it is possible young chicks can live closely with mature adults it hardly ever works that way with my flock. Typically my immature chicks avoid the adults until they mature enough to join the main flock. Until then I usually have two sub-flocks. The young avoid the mature chickens as they are likely to get pecked if they invade the adults' personal space. If the adults walk toward them the young can panic, trying to get out of the way. It really helps to have enough room for the young to avoid the adults. I consider space critical.
Sometimes a rooster will help take care of chicks while the sweet docile hens are brutal toward them. It is a rooster's job to take care of his flock, if he sees them as part of his flock he can be a huge asset. Some people have roosters attack chicks but I never have. Usually the hens aren't that bad either unless the personal space has been violated.
You can get a lot of advice on how to integrate your new chicks, some of it conflicting. I find it best to house them side by side for a week or two so they get used to each other, then when I let them together I give them as much room as possible. I try to let them manage it and try to not force them to occupy a small space together, day or night. Provide widely separated feeding and watering spots so the young can eat and drink without challenging the adults. It's best if those are out of line of sight, behind a barrier of some type. If your facilities are small that might mean feeding and watering in both the run and the coop.
I don't know what will happen. People go through this all of the time. Sometimes pretty seamlessly, sometimes there is a lot of drama. Good luck!
