can ten-week-old chickens go out in the cold snow and ice

[Chicks in VA]

so i dont want to freeze my birds
but can ten-week-old chicks go out in the cold, ice and snow

 

[swamphiker]

Yes, at 10 weeks old, they should be fully feathered and therefore as cold hardy as adults of the same breed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

so i dont want to freeze my birds
but can ten-week-old chicks go out in the cold, ice and snow

If they want to I'd let them. They are feathered out and should be able to handle pretty cold temperatures as well as adults. Mine don't like a cold wind but if the wind is calm they head out. I took this photo when it was +4 Fahrenheit. That is ice on the ground from the waterer. If the wind had been blowing they would not have been out there.

A lot of chickens don't like snow. Not because it is cold but because it is different. They usually don't like change. When mine wake up to a strange new white world mine won't go out in it that day. After two or three days with the pop door open some will go out in it but some won't. I've had chickens go out and wade through 9" of snow after a few days. The day I took this photo it started snowing after they were already out so they didn't bother going in. It didn't bother them to walk in the cold snow.

I just leave the pop door open and let them decide what they want to do. They know that a lot better than I do.

 

[Chicks in VA]

ok thanks a lot