Is 4 weeks a good age to move the chicks out in my climate zone?

[Vapor85Knight]

I live in climate zone 1 (Fortuna, CA). It's been on average about 50+ degrees at night and I wanted to know if 4 weeks is a good age to put my chicks in their outdoor coop and should I add a heat lamp?

 

[1muttsfan]

Your chicks will need some supplemental heat until they are fully feathered out, usually around 6 weeks of age. They could certainly be moved outside as long as you are able to provide an area that is quite a bit warmer than 50 degrees - usually by 4 weeks they need around 70 degrees to stay comfortable.

 

[Vapor85Knight]

Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Read my comments in this thread. It’s not just a matter of age, it’s also about draft protection and ventilation in the coop and how well they have been acclimatized.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...side-coop-with-crazy-weather-in-the-northeast

At four weeks old they are getting pretty close, but if you can do it without burning the coop down, I’d suggest moving them out now with a supplemental heat source. Just heat one area and let the rest cool down. They will find their own comfort zone, which will probably be all over the coop, just going back to the heat when they need to warm up. In another week they should not need any heat at all as long as your temperatures don’t cool down very much. But as long as they can get away from the heat when they want to, you can keep the heat on if you wish. There are no hard and fast rules on this, just try to be safe with the heat source.

 

[Vapor85Knight]

What would be a good bulb wattage to put in the coop? It's a small coop large enough for 4 large chickens.

 

[1muttsfan]

Depending on how high you put it a 100 or 200 watt heat bulb in a metal hood placed in one corner would work fine. As said by Ridgerunner above, make sure to secure the light, use 2 separate wires and/or chains attached to 2 different places on the light. You want to create a warm zone that they can move in and out of when they like, not nesccessarily heat the whole coop.