Getting them ready for coop

[jmtcmkb]

Chicks are 5 weeks old today, want to move them out within a couple weeks if possible okay I would LOVE to get them out of my house today

There's no easy way to change the room temp to get them ready. I dont have a cold basement, garage, porch etc. The temp change will be kind of drastic. The lowest I can get the room they are in without creating a major draft seems to be 60*. Today I am turning off the ecoglow during the daytime hours, hoping this will help-

I guess my question is, do I just go ahead and bite the bullet next week and put them out in the coop with the ecoglow? And maybe this is silly but is 6 weeks fully feathered meaning at the end of 6 weeks, beginning of week 6 or does it matter?? Outside temps will most likely be 50* high and 25 lows very soon- right now we have SNOW on the ground...who would of thought!!

 

[7L Farm]

Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Chicks can take a lot more than we give them credit for. My chicks are 6 weeks old and almost feathered out. I still had a heatlamp on for them at night. Example: Day before yesterday in the freak snowstorm with high winds that we had, our power went out from 3 pm till midnight. Temps dipped into the upper 20s. The temp in the coop went into the lower 30s, just above freezing. Next morning -- they were fine.

I seriously think I should take away the heatlamp alltogether now, since they clearly demonstrated they can handle lower temps. But I'm too whimpy.

 

[turbodog]

They'll be fine. Go for it.

 

[dolly85]

When I make the transition from the house to outside in colder weather I always give a heat source for a week or so. The one time I didn't it got down into the thirties and the chicks piled up and suffocated several of the smaller ones..... It was horrible. Everyone seems to just stick their babies out in the cold with little thought as to how they will adjust, but perhaps they are from warmer climates. It gets pretty cold up here in northern Wisconsin.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
thanks... I will put the ecoglow out with them, but am, concerned it may not be enough. As is it right now one or two always end up on top of it. One thing for sure they cant stay in here much longer, I am vaccuming and dusting 2 or 3 times a day !!

 

[dolly85]

They are messy little things aren't they! I always tell myself, no more chicks in the house but SOMEHOW I accidently keep ending up with more, lol.

 

[AlienChick]

Go ahead and put them outside with the Ecoglow.

Having the Ecoglow with them can't hurt and will definitely make YOU feel better.

 

[Cochaura]

This is our first time raising chicks and I noticed that all but one or two really avoided any proximity to the heat lamp after a few weeks, even though I had it at the proper temp and distance. I agree with the person who said they are tougher than we give them credit for!
When we put ours outside, it was getting down into the lower 30s at night and they were fine. Unfortunately, it took us until they were 12 weeks old to finish their coop - what a mess we had in the basement! I think yours would be fine too.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

Put them out, they'll be fine.