Can they stay outside all night yet?

[FLOWERPOT]

I have 24- 5 week old Bantams that are fully feathered,
It is averaging 50-55 at night, and 65-70 during the day.
can they stay outside at night yet with a heat lamp at night in their shed-turned-coop?

Also, I have 20- 3 week old standard size egg layers that are in the brooder with the bantams. do you think I should wait a bit to put them out or will they be fine with the older ones outside?

 

[ibpboo]

My two week old RIR's are staying out all night now in a hutch, no heat, they have about half their feathers, it still gets low 40's at night and it is high 50's, sometimes low 60's during day. Tonite will be their 4 night out and they are doing fine.

 

[alabama girl]

The little ones should be fine, since chickens usually cuddle up close to each other, but heat lamp is still required, even with warm temps, windchill makes it slightly cooler.

 

[ibpboo]

2 weeks old

a few days earlier

 

[FLOWERPOT]

Wow great news!!!
Hubby is gonna be so happy!!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a good day out so they can enjoy the day before they stay out all night.
Thanks y'all for the info.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

They will be fine outside in a coop or brooder as long as they have a heatlamp...Chicks do not fully feather til they are 8 to 10 weeks old and then still need a heatlamp in cold or cool weather...They chill easy.

 

[Gindee77]

I'm so glad to read this thread. I was wondering when I could put my 1-2 week old chicks out in the coop. I will put a couple heat lamps on them and corral them in with cardboard. But they are starting to stink pretty fast, just hours after I clean their brooders! LOL Guess that's to be expected with 17 chicks in the house! We have one more thing to do to our coop and it will be ready. Just adding some 1/2" welded wire mesh over the chicken wire we used initially. We just got it and we're putting it on this afternoon.

P.S. IBPBoo, your chicks are so pretty!

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
TOH is correct.

Once they get chilled they can have a hard time recovering. Chilling can be fatal.

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

I put my 23 chicks out in a good, weather tight, shed-type coop at a week old, at the end of February in the Mid Atlantic, so it was pretty cold. Probably anywhere in the 40's - 50's during the day, and 30's at night.

They had the run of the 6 x 8 coop, with two heat lamps spaced apart from each other, so that they could come in and out of the heat as they wished, and there was always a back up if a bulb blew. Lots of food and fresh water, and they did great. We put a couple of small branches in there, and the whole place became their personal jungle gym. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but they seemed really happy!

We started letting them outside in their run only on nice days at 5 weeks, and now at 8 weeks, their pop door is open morning till sundown, and they can come and go as they please. They definitely spend more time outside than in on the warmer days, but I'm surprised how much time they spend outside on even the colder, wet days, so they must be hardier than I even think!

So at least in my experience, if you have a draft-free place for them, and heat lamps to keep the temperature up to recommended levels for their age, they do just fine outside, even at a really little size!

 

[ctcasper]

Where can I find the recommended temperature levels for chickens over 8 weeks old, i can only find for the first part up until like 7 weeks.