Garage to coop and back ~ what time do you bring your's in?

[GaNewChick]

I put mine out (8 weeks old) in the morning once the temp has reached 70 (which has been early here lately) and bring them inside to the garage when my free range gamefowl roost ~ which recently has been about 8:00 to 8:15.

We are not quite predator proof yet which is why they are staying indoors at night and I want the temp to stay above 70.

 

[cmom]

About the same for me.

 

[spotsplus]

I don't leave mine outside until they are atleast 2 months old and warm at night. Now they are all little babies at 3-4 weeks old so I am putting them out when it gets warm (about 11 ish am) and bringing them in at just about the time they would go to roost (6ish).

 

[Rex Mom]

At 8 weeks... and mine are just about there.... they should be fine at cooler temps when fully feathered. Because my coop is not in the yard yet.. I have been taking mine from the brooder to outdoors in the morning.. temp 60 degrees... and bringing in at around 6:30-7pm. I have my brooder in my third bedroom. The window has been open and the light over the brooder off. This is so they will acclimate to a cooler temp and daylight vs night. I also have a small fan on low to move the air in there. So far they have been fine... no problems. I have found when you keep them on a natural daylight to dusk schedule they do great. No fighting.. and look forward to going in the box and taken outside in the morning. Your's are fully feathered now right? If so they can handle the cooler temps better than you think... and if you allow the area they are in at night to cool off too.. it will be easier for them to transfer to a coop outside. I started this a couple of weeks ago.. we had a heat wave and it was very hot.. around 94 during the day. So I started leaving the window open at night so they could adjust and cool off. Also brought in the fan... very still air in that bedroom. They need air movement... it's healthy for them. Keeps the ammonia levels low. I know it's hard when you've raised them since they were a day old... but they are growing at a speedy rate. You do benefit by handling them often when moving them in and out.. but they need to be what they are... chickens.

Susan

 

[Redhead Hen]

I put my golden comets out with my "big" girls (the big girls were about 6 wks to 8 wks) when they( the comets) were about a month old. They are doing just fine. They have been outside in the coop/run for a few weeks. No problems at all. Of course they were fully feathered and flying out of the brooder. Our main concern was the temps at night, but they are thriving!

 

[GaNewChick]

Thanks everyone.

Susan, yes they are fully feathered. I bring the dog crate to them every morning and open the doors, they march right in ~ they know exactly where they are going.