first night out for the meaties, storming and pouring down rain!

[dustyw]

My cornish xs are 2 weeks old today and I booted them out of the garage about 4 hours ago. I just finished my pvc tractor with half covered with a tarp and one corner has a small piece of tarp on it. I hope they will be ok. Not a good first night out. They have never been in the dark either. The kids want to bring them back in the garage, but I keep telling them that they will be fine. I hope so! Its been mid 80s for highs and upper 60s to low 70s for the lows.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Good Luck Fuzzybutts!

 

[greathorse]

not an expert on meaties but I am thinking they are a long ways from feathered and should have a light for warmth at the least. . I am sure someone that has more experience with Cornish X will give you a better idea. In my mind they should still have access to 80 degrees or more. If they get wet they will really get chilled

 

[dustyw]

We brought them back into the garage. They were cold and wet. My garage is 85 plus I turned on the 250 watt heat lamp. THey are starting to move around to eat and drink. I guess I was all excited about getting the pvc tractor done and thought it would be great if they were out of the garage. I hope they don't die.

 

[sassychickengirl]

Quote:
They should be fine. I kicked mine out at one week (I'm horrible I know). Anyway they had a covered area and the heat lamp hooked up for warmth. They seem to be very hot blooded and have been fine. They did get wet once ( too dumb to get out of the rain) and I put them all together under the light and they were just fine. Not one loss from that. The are tougher than other chicks I believe. More resiliant. Don't fret too much

 

[operator16]

I don't know where you live, but we are still having nights with temperatures around 50 degrees.

I put out my 6 and 4 week chicks in the coop and they were locked down with a heat light up high in one corner in case they needed it. I checked on them after dark and they were all huddled together under the light. I moved the light closer and they gave each other some room but still stayed under it until I went out in the morning to open their door.

My youngest are still only 5 weeks and they are about 50% fuzz and 50% feathers. They still need the heat.

I'm definitely NOT an expert, but this was our experience. I hope it helps.

Best wishes to you and your chicks!

 

[dustyw]

Well I checked on them in the morning and one was dead. He appeared to be smothered by the rest of them. They were all crowded around and on top of him. I even brought the heat lamp back in the garage for them.The rest seem to be doing good. I might try to move them back out around the middle of the week. A couple more days of rain and then a few dry days. Wich brings me to my next question, at 2 weeks old, is 90 to 95 to hot for them? During the heat of the day, they seem to just sit there and pant. My garage is so hot. I have an outdoor wood stove with the lines running through the garage, wich are insulated, but it is still very hot in there. I am thinking about moving them to the barn for a couple of days as a transition to the move outside.

 

[chix4smokin]

They really need to feather out fairly well before they get tossed out. You can move them out in your tractor at 2 weeks "if they can stay warm and dry!! put a tarp over it if its raining but make sure the ground stays dry. they will still need a lamp for heat until they feather out. its better if they move away from the lamp versus piling on top of each other for heat. sounds like you figured that part out though