How soon can chicks live in the colder outside?

[chickychicka]

I'd appreciate any input / personal experiences anyone can give me!
At what age can chicks deal with colder temperatures well? Can they go live in an outdoor coop when they are 3-4 weeks old and it's not freezing yet? At what age can a young chicken go outdoors when it's freezing? Is it a good idea at all to incubate and hatch chicks when the fall comes around (we have rather mild winters, our backyard is well protected and it never went below freezing last year)
Thanks!

 

[rainbowsald]

i let my chickens out to free-range when they where 2 weeks but not for the night just for supervised times. but i did not let mine out full time till they where 7 weeks old.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The answer to this question is relative to the chicks feathering, how cold your talking about, coop conditions and number of chicks to huddle for warmth.

Honestly, there are so many variables there is no right absolute answer. The most important for any outside condition is the feathering of the chicks. This alone is affected by how they were brooded. Brooding at high temperatures increases the feathering time. Right there there is variable to chick age of good feathering. Once birds are fully feathered they can be acclimated to freezing temperatures. Just don't shock them by taking from a 70 F house to freezing coop in one fell swoop. Gradually acclimate.

In my case I wait for chicks to have wing feathering and start of tail feathering before any outdoor night temp conditions. As we only start chicks in spring that means lows in 40's F. This for me is as early as 3 weeks. We start at 90 F in brooder and raise the light some then even start to turn it off during periods of day when the house is warmed up. So feathering is faster for my birds than others; the need for feathers promotes growth.

Edit to add: In house heating we've a programed thermostat. Our house temp goes to 58 F for 6 hours during middle of night then staging back up to 67 F during day. By the end of 4 to 4 1/2 weeks ours chicks have not had added heat source for a good 4 days prior to being sent to coop. And that time is also delegated by outside conditions, if too severe they go to a unheated storage area in cage kennel with lamp for another week.

 

[dergkidd]

Looking for a recommendation. It has been 75-80 degrees during the day here and I just moved the pullets outside at 6/7 weeks. It's supposed to be 30 degrees tonight and tomorrow night. Do they need a heatlamp or will they be ok???

 

[ElCerritoPlace]

I would give them a heat lamp. Are they fully feathered, head and all? Mine are 10 weeks, almost and it got into the low 20s and some were kind of lethargic this morning. Took out warm water for them and warm mash and they perked back up. But its hard because they don't have the insulation feathers grown in yet.