Getting them used to outside

[ScottyGill]

im struggling to locate information that I can understand, ranging from don’t put them out if there’s snow to don’t let them out till at least 4 weeks to you can put them into coop at 4/5 weeks!

My chicks are 3 weeks old now and we have had some nice weather in Scotland and I let them out for about 30 mins and they loved it. It was a little windy yesterday and I was worried it was too soon and they would get chilled.

I thought I saw once a kind of table like at 3 weeks this amount of time a day, at 4 etc building up to ready to be out full time in coop but can’t find it now. Any suggestions.

Our forecast this week is about 65F and wet so not ideal summer temps. Hoping it will improve. They spend most of their day outside in their brooder box, just going under their brooder to sleep. It’s about 70F in our living room right now during the day. I want them acclimatised to our Scottish weather. It’s very humid right now. Am I trying to early or is building it up from now ok. I don’t want to put them out when it’s pouring obviously as I know they are mostly down still. Mind you that doesn’t kill baby ducks does it?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How many chicks do you have? They can cuddle to keep each other warm if you have enough.
Do you have electric at the coop to power your brooder? If so, they can go out as day olds. I've raised chicks with a hover brooder when the temperature in the coop was as low as 40F.
A mother hen can keep chicks comfortable in lower temperatures. If you think about it, a mother hen takes chicks out shortly after they hatch. They run around in the cold air, wind and all, and occasionally run under the hen to warm up and then back to running around.

 

[ScottyGill]

No they’re in the house. We don’t have electricity in the coop so plan is take heater away in the house next week as they use it less and less and get them acclimatised to outside. They don’t have a mum to run too and there’s 3 of them. So obvious sign of them being cold would be huddling up together I take it? They were like that in their box last night as we’d moved their brooder warmer to another corner and needed reminded where it was, daft wee things.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They'll always huddle together at night. If they huddle during the day, they're too cold.

 

[ScottyGill]

Cool I was going to leave them there as I am looking for signs they don’t need the brooder heater but hubby moved them. They never huddled at all in the day pen. Sadly my run I ordered came with no clips so I need to wait for husband to come home as with his help top of brooder box can be a run. But then I have to stop them flying out. Haha such fun. He’s going to knock me up one later today. I’ll get them out as much as possible. They love it. Just watch for day time huddling. Thanks

 

[mike48851]

im struggling to locate information that I can understand, ranging from don’t put them out if there’s snow to don’t let them out till at least 4 weeks to you can put them into coop at 4/5 weeks!

My chicks are 3 weeks old now and we have had some nice weather in Scotland and I let them out for about 30 mins and they loved it. It was a little windy yesterday and I was worried it was too soon and they would get chilled.

I thought I saw once a kind of table like at 3 weeks this amount of time a day, at 4 etc building up to ready to be out full time in coop but can’t find it now. Any suggestions.

Our forecast this week is about 65F and wet so not ideal summer temps. Hoping it will improve. They spend most of their day outside in their brooder box, just going under their brooder to sleep. It’s about 70F in our living room right now during the day. I want them acclimatised to our Scottish weather. It’s very humid right now. Am I trying to early or is building it up from now ok. I don’t want to put them out when it’s pouring obviously as I know they are mostly down still. Mind you that doesn’t kill baby ducks does it?

I'm not sure if this will answer all of your questions, but I raised my first batch of hens this spring and as of right now, they are doing outstanding.

I had my coop finished when I got my chicks. It was in the 20's 30's and 40's for the first month or so I had them. I put them right in the coop, in a little rabbit cage to start (cage in the coop), with a heat lamp above. I paid very close attention to them the first few days and made lamp adjustments according to their behavior. Anyways, they made it through the cold, with the heat lamp of course, no problem.

When it started to get into the 50's, maybe 60's..maybe cooler during the day (by this time they were probably about 4 weeks or so), I would open the coop door and give them access to the run. It took them a bit to want to go outside, but I left it completely up to them. If you let them out, just pay close attention, as you will be able to tell when they are getting cold. They start making distressed sounds...you can just tell.

In a nutshell, I just do what you want to do and just pay attention to them. Their body language and talking will let you know how they're feeling. I think my biggest advice I can give you is to just pay attention to your young ones and use common sense...If you think they're getting a little uncomfortable, just put them back where you know they're safe. From what I've learned, even if they don't get outdoor time early, they seem to adapt to change pretty quickly. I basically winged it raising my birds, and now I get 3-4 eggs per day (4 pullets total) and they seem extremely happy, always just running around and chirping...you know, doing chicken things.

Keep the water fresh!

I know I probably rambled off a bit and did not answer what you needed...I'm just letting you know what I did and that my chicks turned out great. Good luck, and enjoy !