How old does a chick need to be to put outside in cold weather?

[grnidone]

I am in central Kansas, and I recently hatched a chick from an egg. Since only one egg hatched, I'd like to get this little one with the rest of the flock as soon as I possibly can. The chick is now 19 days old. (Hatched on Christmas day.)

Of course, I will not put the chick directly in with the other two, just close enough so everyone can see each other. I have a hen and a roo...will get some more hens later this spring. Right now, the chick only has a mirror as a "friend."

The days are mid 20's to 30's and the nights are in the teens. How cold is too cold to put a chick out with the rest?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Replying to follow this topic..

 

[happyhens1972]

Your chick needs to be fully feathered in order to go outside, usually a minimum of six weeks old. Then, if your chick is going to be alone, with no friends to snuggle up to and share body heat, I'd add another couple of weeks to that. Then it would need to be 'hardened off' by having 'visits' to the outdoors of gradually increasing length, getting it used to the temperatures. I live in the UK and I, personally, would not attempt ANY of this until night time temps were in the 40s, at least but maybe I'm over-cautious as we rarely have extreme temperatures so it seems that much colder to me. Anyone else?

 

[grnidone]

I may need to bring the other two inside to be with the baby.

 

[thomasboyle]

As HappyHens said, she needs to be fully feathered. Given you live in the Midwest, and it gets very cold, I would wait as long as possible before putting her out in freezing weather. I think you are looking at 6-8 weeks. Once she is out in the coop, I would consider a heat lamp. I don't recommend them for adult chickens, but babies need the warmth. Just make sure it is well secured so it cannot fall and cause a fire, and put a guard on it so the chickens cannot jump and hit the bulb. I used ceramic heat bulbs that are made for reptiles. They put out heat but no light. They work really well. I build my lamp guard out of hardware wire attached to the metal shade / reflector on the lamp.

 

[Hufflefluff]

You could also check out the 'mama heating pad' thread and article by Blooie; if you have a very reliable way of getting electricity to your coop then that could work with her out there (she could be outside with no fire risk and no all-night lighting). However, I really do have to agree that 6-8 weeks is absolutely the best option- the feathers will also help protect her a little from any pecks from older birds (and given that 4-5 weeks from now will be in February, I'd even wait until a little later.)
Would you really be able to bring the two other (presumably full grown?) chickens inside with the baby? I've never tried anything like that, and so I wouldn't be able to say for certain, but it seems like having them in your house would be both a huge pain and an unpleasant shock for the chickens. Also, in my experience, it takes awhile for mature birds to recognize babies as chickens-- once they're fully feathered it's no problem, but there's been some malicious confusion when it comes to big hens and small fluffballs- too easy to step on, and they don't speak the same language yet. I'd be really interested in hearing how this works out if you decide to try it.

Also, I'm assuming getting another chick or two to keep the baby company isn't a possibility? Even though your chick is nearly three weeks old, if it's an 'only child' it should still find it pretty easy to integrate with a day-old, as long as you mind their different heat requirements. That would also make integration with the big flock easier, and let them huddle when it's cold. I'm sure you've already looked into it, but I'd still recommend perusing craigslist to see if anyone has young chicks they'd be willing to part with (or, alternatively, someone who would want your chick to raise with some of yours, which I know is far, far from ideal, but if your breeds aren't too fancy and you aren't too attached would then let you get a few chicks at the same time come spring)

Best of luck with the chick- keep us posted, and I'm interested to hear what you'll decide on. I hope everything with your flock goes well

 

[Birdinhand]

with an adequate heated area, sheltered from draft, I put them outside from day one. the mother heating pad approach is perfect. if you have a nice separated brooder area, you can make a small door into the main coop. give it it's own food and water the chick will not venture far from the opening and will run to shelter if the hens start giving it guff. the hens seem to loose interest once they realize the chick can get to safety and eventually they start to get used to it being around and begin allowing it in. As the chick grows you can "raise the bar" and make the door larger. rarely a hen will take a feldgling under her wing as her own. I have created a door that I raise as the chicks get bigger. this approach has worked beautifully, greatly easing the transition into the flock.

 

[happyhens1972]

with an adequate heated area, sheltered from draft, I put them outside from day one. the mother heating pad approach is perfect. if you have a nice separated brooder area, you can make a small door into the main coop. give it it's own food and water the chick will not venture far from the opening and will run to shelter if the hens start giving it guff. the hens seem to loose interest once they realize the chick can get to safety and eventually they start to get used to it being around and begin allowing it in. As the chick grows you can "raise the bar" and make the door larger. rarely a hen will take a feldgling under her wing as her own. I have created a door that I raise as the chicks get bigger. this approach has worked beautifully, greatly easing the transition into the flock.

I would agree with all this IF it was multiple chicks but one chick on its own is not likely to survive, in my opinion. The benefits of shared body heat and 'moving with the crowd' are huge but one little lonely fluffer is more likely to wander (or be chased) off and not be able to get back to heat and safety as there'll be no peeps to follow. It will take very little time at those temps for it to chill and get past the point of no return xxx

 

[Birdinhand]

I would agree with all this IF it was multiple chicks but one chick on its own is not likely to survive, in my opinion. The benefits of shared body heat and 'moving with the crowd' are huge but one little lonely fluffer is more likely to wander (or be chased) off and not be able to get back to heat and safety as there'll be no peeps to follow. It will take very little time at those temps for it to chill and get past the point of no return xxx

one chick is definitely challenging in any configuration. If I ended up with just one, I'd ask around and see if any friends had ones about the same age and see if it could be rehomed.

 

[Brahma27]

I agree.Also the temp should be over 60 (fahrenheit) at all times