Can my 3.5 week olds move outside ?

[cotoletta]

Hello, I have two rhode rocks and a RIRxLS. The latter is a runty chick, eating a feeding well but not Spritely like her sisters.
They’re currently indoors in my house without their heat lamp on. They’re feathered although not totally. They’re also running around in their brooder box and jumping in and out and quite frankly driving me round the twist with their cheeky-ness
I’m wondering if it’s okay at this age to put them outside? I’m in south England and temp is around 12-14c at the moment. Their coop and run is currently shaded until the summer sun arrives. Thank you for your help

 

[Mvan42]

They will probably need a source of heat until fully feathered, but would be ok with heat. I have a two week old outside in the coop. No electric in he coop I ran an outdoor extension cord out to plug it in with.

 

[Chicken Heel]

Yours sound similar to my six from last September that I put in the outdoor coop on a 92 degrees F afternoon. Two days later it was 46 degrees F and they did fine. By the way, I love your "driving me round the twist with their cheeky-ness" comment.

 

[SueT]

I wean mine off of heat starting at 3 weeks, and move them out by 4 weeks. At that age, mine have been in lows around 50F, (10C) and even a bit colder with no problem at all.

 

[cotoletta]

Yours sound similar to my six from last September that I put in the outdoor coop on a 92 degrees F afternoon. Two days later it was 46 degrees F and they did fine. By the way, I love your "driving me round the twist with their cheeky-ness" comment.

Oh that sounds promising, I’ve just put their bedding out and might leave them outside tomorrow to see how they fair. I suppose could bring them back in if they’re not xooong well!
yes they’re so cheeky, can’t help but smile though when they’re behaving like terrors!

 

[cotoletta]

I wean mine off of heat starting at 3 weeks, and move them out by 4 weeks. At that age, mine have been in lows around 50F, (10C) and even a bit colder with no problem at all.

Amazing, I’m going to try it out tomorrow and see how they do! It’s always good to see a positive post! Thank you!

 

[SueT]

Amazing, I’m going to try it out tomorrow and see how they do! It’s always good to see a positive post! Thank you!

by weaning, I mean gradually. Turn off the heat while still indoors, and see how they react. Some people say that they will grow feathers faster if heat is withdrawn.