Coop age question

[BethMatt]

We have 4 week old chicks ( our first flock ever) our temps are on the mid 60's during the day & high 30's to 40's at night. My question is how soon can I transfer them to the coop permentaly? They have been indoors under a heat lamp (around 70 - 75 ) since they were a few days old & are now almost fully feathered & acting as if they want out something ferice! Not to mention the MESS they are making of our house! Any help would be great!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We have 4 week old chicks ( our first flock ever) our temps are on the mid 60's during the day & high 30's to 40's at night. My question is how soon can I transfer them to the coop permentaly? They have been indoors under a heat lamp (around 70 - 75 ) since they were a few days old & are now almost fully feathered & acting as if they want out something ferice! Not to mention the MESS they are making of our house! Any help would be great!!

I don't know the weather where you are, but if they have feathered out they can generally go out.

 

[Mrs. K]

But before you do, let them acclimate them a bit, turn off the light, let them get used to that for a day or two, then put them out for a couple of hours for a day or two, then they should be fine. Plan 4-5 days to do this, and you should be fine.

ten to one, you would be fine if you just put them out there, but it might not hurt to break them in a little more gradually.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you can get electricity to the coop, put in a heat source in one corner without burning the coop down and move them out now. My brooder is in the coop to start with. The chicks go in there straight out of the incubator. I heat one end of my 3’ x 6’ brooder and let the rest cool off as it will. Even newly hatched chicks know to stay where the heat is, and in a few days they roam a lot more and return to the heat when they warm up. At four weeks yours should be really good at self-regulating. You might be shocked at how comfortable they are in cooler areas, just going to the heat if they need to warm up.

If you don’t have electricity you can try building a hover. Think of an inverted flat box raised just enough for the chicks to get under it. Their body heat warms the inside and with the roof on it, they stay really warm. Don’t be shocked if they sleep on top of it instead of under it though.

George is right that if they are feathered out they should be OK. I’d be a bit concerned at that age of taking them straight from a 75 degree environment to a freezing environment. You might try exposing them to cooler temperatures to help get them acclimated. Make sure the coop has good draft protection where they are. Ventilation up high is really good but they don’t need a breeze hitting them directly.

In the heat of summer I’ve been known to stop the daytime heat at 2 days and nighttime heat at 5 days in my brooder in the coop. In winter I leave the heat on much longer. As a general guideline if the lows are somewhere in the 40’s and they are five weeks old, they don’t get supplemental heat. I’ve had them go through lows in the mid 20’s when they were 5-1/2 weeks old and do fine.

If you have been feeding them a fairly high protein chick starter they should be pretty well feathered out by now. With just a little acclimation they should be real close to be ready to go. It’s hard to give real solid advice over the internet because no matter what you tell me I’m not looking at them, but they are normally a lot tougher than many people realize. I let the chicks tell me what they need more than go by any rigid schedule.

Good luck!

 

[BethMatt]

If you can get electricity to the coop, put in a heat source in one corner without burning the coop down and move them out now. My brooder is in the coop to start with. The chicks go in there straight out of the incubator. I heat one end of my 3’ x 6’ brooder and let the rest cool off as it will. Even newly hatched chicks know to stay where the heat is, and in a few days they roam a lot more and return to the heat when they warm up. At four weeks yours should be really good at self-regulating. You might be shocked at how comfortable they are in cooler areas, just going to the heat if they need to warm up.

If you don’t have electricity you can try building a hover. Think of an inverted flat box raised just enough for the chicks to get under it. Their body heat warms the inside and with the roof on it, they stay really warm. Don’t be shocked if they sleep on top of it instead of under it though.

George is right that if they are feathered out they should be OK. I’d be a bit concerned at that age of taking them straight from a 75 degree environment to a freezing environment. You might try exposing them to cooler temperatures to help get them acclimated. Make sure the coop has good draft protection where they are. Ventilation up high is really good but they don’t need a breeze hitting them directly.

In the heat of summer I’ve been known to stop the daytime heat at 2 days and nighttime heat at 5 days in my brooder in the coop. In winter I leave the heat on much longer. As a general guideline if the lows are somewhere in the 40’s and they are five weeks old, they don’t get supplemental heat. I’ve had them go through lows in the mid 20’s when they were 5-1/2 weeks old and do fine.

If you have been feeding them a fairly high protein chick starter they should be pretty well feathered out by now. With just a little acclimation they should be real close to be ready to go. It’s hard to give real solid advice over the internet because no matter what you tell me I’m not looking at them, but they are normally a lot tougher than many people realize. I let the chicks tell me what they need more than go by any rigid schedule.

Good luck!

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have had them outside all day, for the first time it's sunny and high 60s. They seem to love it. I will try to post a pic of them out there. My coupe is brand-new and well-made I've put three or more inches of pine shavings and I'm ready to introduce them to the coop tonight. I've put my heat lamp out there for nighttime hours only. I was truly surprised how quickly they feathered up!

 

[BethMatt]

If you can get electricity to the coop, put in a heat source in one corner without burning the coop down and move them out now. My brooder is in the coop to start with. The chicks go in there straight out of the incubator. I heat one end of my 3’ x 6’ brooder and let the rest cool off as it will. Even newly hatched chicks know to stay where the heat is, and in a few days they roam a lot more and return to the heat when they warm up. At four weeks yours should be really good at self-regulating. You might be shocked at how comfortable they are in cooler areas, just going to the heat if they need to warm up.

If you don’t have electricity you can try building a hover. Think of an inverted flat box raised just enough for the chicks to get under it. Their body heat warms the inside and with the roof on it, they stay really warm. Don’t be shocked if they sleep on top of it instead of under it though.

George is right that if they are feathered out they should be OK. I’d be a bit concerned at that age of taking them straight from a 75 degree environment to a freezing environment. You might try exposing them to cooler temperatures to help get them acclimated. Make sure the coop has good draft protection where they are. Ventilation up high is really good but they don’t need a breeze hitting them directly.

In the heat of summer I’ve been known to stop the daytime heat at 2 days and nighttime heat at 5 days in my brooder in the coop. In winter I leave the heat on much longer. As a general guideline if the lows are somewhere in the 40’s and they are five weeks old, they don’t get supplemental heat. I’ve had them go through lows in the mid 20’s when they were 5-1/2 weeks old and do fine.

If you have been feeding them a fairly high protein chick starter they should be pretty well feathered out by now. With just a little acclimation they should be real close to be ready to go. It’s hard to give real solid advice over the internet because no matter what you tell me I’m not looking at them, but they are normally a lot tougher than many people realize. I let the chicks tell me what they need more than go by any rigid schedule.

Good luck!