Going outside?

[klb25]

My chicks are 4 weeks and I'm going to try them out in a separate coop tonight. Our low is in the 40s though. If it were 20s I'd wait a little longer.

 

[pinewoodacres]

I brood outside using a tractor, a plastic bin with pine shavings (first week or two), and a heat plate with an extension cord. By four weeks, they really have enough feathers to be fine. I’m in Florida so it’s a little different but we had a cold snap down into the upper 20s when my latest batch were around 5 weeks so I plugged in the heat plate again, but I didn’t really need to. They keep each other warm and the important feathers are already in by around four weeks. I cannot imagine brooding inside - and they are more resilient than we give them credit for.