Four weeks old too early to transition to coop? [pic heavy]

[caralynnp]

they are soooo cute!! I put my two seven week girls out into the coop last week and everything has been fine, except for the first two days they did cheep cheep at the back door at sunset so I had to bring them into the coop but now they go in by themselves and put themselves on a roost just like the bigger girls. And no one has been picked on either.

 

[midd2005]

i think it all depends on your temps. i would think that this time of year it's staying pretty warm in georgia.


i live in hawaii and this time of year it's about 85 during the day and as cool as 69 at night. last week we started leaving the girls out all night -they were about 4 to 4.5 weeks old and looking a lot like yours. as of about 3 weeks we had been leaving them out in the day so they were plenty used to their coop/run by the time we decided to do night time outside too. the first couple nights they were peeping like crazy when we hit dusk. they are definitely afraid of the dark, which is understandable since they really hadn't every experienced it before. we stuck a cardboard box out there on its side and sure enough that helped. all 7 piled in there and settled down. our coop and run pretty much run together since it never really gets very cold here. the "coop" part is 3 walls and a roof with the 4th feeding into the hardware wire enclosed section. so i guess they liked the confined space of the box more. the peeping seems to have backed off a bit since then.

so, depending on your night time coop temperatures i bet you'll be fine to start leaving them out any night now. plus you have a fair number of chickens so they can huddle for warmth if they need it.

 

[cluck love]

I have pretty much the same question - when can I relocate my chicks from their inside brooder to their outside coop/run? We have four Rhode Island Reds who are about 3.5 weeks and as far as I can tell are pretty well feathered, not much of the fluffy down stuff any more. We live in Rhode Island and for the past week have had 85-95 degree weather during the day, so I have been bringing my ladies outside. Last week I started by taking them out for 2-3 hrs a day. The past few days however they have been out all day, from 8am-7pm and loving it! Their coop and run is completely predator proof so I feel safe. We have even let them out to free range (under close supervision) a few times throughout the day (about 10-15 mins at a time). Funny thing is, when we do let them out we keep the door open to the run and they always go back, I think it must be a security thing, they feel safe in their coop.

Now, when I bring the girls back inside at night they make a bit of a stink, they squawk and try to fly out of their brooder. Are my girls ready to make their outside coop their permanent home? Is it too soon?

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
I would definitely put them out there, personally. Can you put a heat lamp in the coop in case you get a nippy night and need to give them a little more heat?

 

[LizGled628]

The 'fro on your crested polish is cracking me up!

Definitely put the babies outside. They will be just fine

 

[midd2005]

figure out your night time lows. if acceptable, let the chicks be chickens!

 

[gritsar]

It's never too early to keep chicks in the coop, so long as the coop is predator and draft proof and can be kept to the temperature needed per their age; either with a heat lamp or naturally.
There's nothing that says that chicks have to be brooded in the house. I don't.

 

[jettgirl24]

I'm sure they'll be just fine. Mine are 5 weeks now and are out with no heat lamp. I put them out at 3 weeks with a heat lamp on at night. I live in Seattle where we've been having a VERY mild summer (60 and raining today

) and have had no problems to speak of.

 

[CorporateGranola]

Thanks all for your help, we are going to let them play in their coop this weekend. Your input is greatly appreciated!

-=CG=-