Going outside

[kychick15]

My chicks are fully feathered and 6 weeks old. I'm ready for them to go outside and stay outside(my house smells like a chicken house). They went outside for a little last weekend and they did fine but I brought them back in for the night. Here is my 10 day forecast ....can they go out and stay out?

 

[eagrbeavr]

Yes

 

[azygous]

It's best to gradually acclimatize chickens if they're going from a wide temperature gradient, say from 70F to 30F. Unless you've been keeping them around 80F in the house, they should do fine moving outside without any heat.

If you've got them in a very warm brooder, try gradually introducing them to cooler temperatures over several days, either by shutting off their heat lamp, reducing the temperature in the room you have them in, or letting them spend longer periods outdoors during the day.

If it's near freezing on the night you move them in to their coop, a little heat wouldn't hurt for a night or two, but keep the heat to a minimum, like a 60 or a 100 watt bulb.

You could also give them a huddle box to keep warm inside. It's just a small cardboard box big enough to hold them all with an opening large enough for a couple to fit through at once. No extra heat is necessary if you provide one of these huddle boxes.

 

[Clucker53]

Chickens are pretty hardy when it comes down to weather. At that age it should be fine for them. But if they dont want to be outside, trust me they will let you know.

 

[kychick15]

They haven't had the heat lamp since Saturday evening and they have been just fine. They seem kinda cramped in the box they are in too. If I move them outside I plan in giving them their heat lamp if need be. My house stays at 70 degrees normally.....on nice days I shut off the heat and open windows. Its been as low as 68 and as high as 74 in the house with windows open.

 

[eagrbeavr]

oh throw their tiny hineys out there then

 

[eagrbeavr]

I'll tell you what. Mine have been outside since day 1. Theyve been using a heating pad for heat. It's going down to the 20s again tonight and I'm not concerned. Theyve been perfectly happy. tonight is their second night in their grow out pen.

 

[eagrbeavr]

And the oldest is 3 weeks old

 

[rottlady]

my oldest two chicks are 5 weeks old. The pullet has most of her feathers the Roo about 1/2 of his

it is 10-15F at night and 20-30 day right now and we got a few inches of snow yesterday. Mine won't be going outside anytime soon

 

[azygous]

Many of us are raising our chicks outside from the get-go, some using the heating pad system, and others still using the old fashioned meat-warming lights. The advantage of brooding outdoors, yes, even in sub-freezing temps, is the chicks never need acclimatizing. They get cold hardened right from the starting gate, so there's no adjustment lter on from hot brooders to cold coops.

I wrote an article about this subject (with pics) linked below under 'Articles by azygous".