Highs 60 Lows 45, When to move 5 week old chicks outside to the coop?

[jokerone]

Mine are about that age and are doing well outside. If they get too cold or tired they'll just run back into the coop. Heat lamp still on at night but am reducing each night the amount of hours it's on via timer

according to the 10 day forecast (I only believe the first 5 days), it will be warmer in a few days. Hopefully spring will show up soon.

 

[new-egger]

acooke I live close to you (Fairfield) and have similar temps. My chicks are coming up on 6 weeks old and I moved them into the coop yesterday. Only 2 chicks. Did you put a heat lamp on your coop or are they just huddling together for warmth? The wind kicked up tonight and they're not settling down. I have a 2 story coop with the lamp shining on the lower area below the roosting box - hoping the heat will rise. I tried to figure out a way to get the heat closer to the roosting area, but there was nothing to attach it to. Wondering how yours are doing in the chilly weather with or without a heat lamp.

 

[kylemsenger]

Our chicks are 4.5 weeks old and have been spending nights in the coop with no heat lamp all week. Temps only fell to the high 60's at night tho and they have literally never shown signs of being cold. I was concerned tho because tomorrow night it is supposed to slowly drop all day to 48 at night...based upon what I have read here I am going to leave them out with no heat and extra pine shavings...they appear almost completely feathered with just a little bit of fuzzy down still peaking out around the feathers in their necks. Ill check on them frequently and make changes before bed if needed but I will post back here and let you know how it goes!!

Update: woke up this morning to 60 degrees the coldest the chicks have seen yet.. When I openned the coop they happily flew out into the run and began flying and chipping around as usual. Its supposed to drop to 48 by tonight so I will monitor them closely but am hoping to avoid returning to the brooder as it is fall and they will need to adjust!

 

[kylemsenger]

Our chicks are 4.5 weeks old and have been spending nights in the coop with no heat lamp all week. Temps only fell to the high 60's at night tho and they have literally never shown signs of being cold. I was concerned tho because tomorrow night it is supposed to slowly drop all day to 48 at night...based upon what I have read here I am going to leave them out with no heat and extra pine shavings...they appear almost completely feathered with just a little bit of fuzzy down still peaking out around the feathers in their necks. Ill check on them frequently and make changes before bed if needed but I will post back here and let you know how it goes!!

Update: woke up this morning to 60 degrees the coldest the chicks have seen yet.. When I openned the coop they happily flew out into the run and began flying and chipping around as usual. Its supposed to drop to 48 by tonight so I will monitor them closely but am hoping to avoid returning to the brooder as it is fall and they will need to adjust!

Couldn't figure out how to edit my last post again. The chicks did great all the way up till 48 degrees...once it dropped below that they started to pile on top each other in the coop and were moved back to the brooder for nights for a while. will try temps below 48 again in a few weeks. They still go into the coop during the day as long as its above 48 and run around and play as usual. they will be 5 weeks tomorrow.