My first ever 14 chickens will be 6 weeks this weekend. They sure do grow like weeds. All are in their box in may bathroom and I am ready to move them out. Coop is ready and I am sure they are ready. Just some q's. Do I need the heat lamp in the coop (low 50's at night still)? Will it be to hot to keep them in there during the day? How long can they be outside for at this point? Just looking for so tips and tricks.
Congrats! It's a good idea to have the heat lamp set up but only use it based on how they are acting. If you run out and peek at them at ten pm and they are spread out then they probably don't need it. If they are huddled on top of each other they do. If your coop is not drafty then they might do fine with the combined body heat of all of them. Good idea to have it set up before dark though just in case. I'd turn the light off in the morning and go from there. In a secure run they can be outside from sun up to sun down if they want to. I wouldn't let them free range yet though because they have a habit of getting lost and not being able to find the coop again for about six more weeks. You are probably going to have to coax them back into the coop at night for a few days. Plan on it. The whole process can be so much fun watching them outside for the first time.
