How young in an outdoor coop?

[DVTO2]

My Golden Comet pullets are 2 weeks old and doing well inside but I was thinking of moving them to their new coop which is 8'x4' with insulation in the ceiling. The nights are still getting to high 30's low 40's - can I keep them warm enough with a heat lamp?

 

[lildinkem]

Depending how warm you plan on keepin it, you may want to wait till their 2 months old not 2 weeks. I wait till their closer to 4 months old.

 

[triggfamily5]

As long as you have your heat lamp or two, I don't see why not.

My chicks are on my porch right now, it's insulated (not the floor) and I have them in a BIG box (see BYC page). They are between 1 and 3 weeks old. The temps at night get between 25 and 45. My ambient are on the porch (at 5 am) has been as low as 55 but directly under the heaters are around 90. We had a warm night last night (45), and the ambient air was 70! It's amazing those two heat lamps can do that. Anyway, I don't keep mine in the house at all or in a tote. I do have a milk house heater out there for when the wind was blowing cold and hard the beginning of last week, but that was just to keep the ambient air stable during the Wyoming spring snow.

 

[DVTO2]

I bought an extra heat lamp to make sure there is a back up and put the 2 week old birds in the coop which is in the garage. One lamp kept a spot at 85 and two will keep it warmer with plenty of room for the birds to find a temperature they like. Plus if one lamp goes, it won't get too cold in there.

 

[ChickenMama18]

Quote:
That sounds good. Of our six babies our little ones just went out this week at the age of 3 weeks. Although it's not as cold as your place...in the 50's for lows it's raining and windy. We have a heat lamp in the run and they use it. At night we lock them in the coop which is insulated. Just til they start putting themselves to bed when they are older.