Keeping chickens outside 24/7??

[erinphelps]

I'm not too worried about predators... there is also a surrounding fence in our yard and we live in the suburbs. We also have 2 dogs that are outside most of the time (they don't bother the chickens though). I'm just making sure they won't be cold at night

 

[Kiki]

O boy...you are probably not going to like me telling you this..

There are 1000's of people, here on this site, that have thought the exact same thing as you just mentioned.

Dogs are nice and don't bother the chickens until they do.
The fence around your yard will not keep predators out.
Predators don't care what neighborhood you live in or on what side of the road...they care about eating. Period.

Please do a search here
Search
about predators.
Here is another good place to add to the research:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-pests-how-to-protect-treat-your-flock.47659/


Please don't take this the wrong way...I know it's had to understand my emotion/concern but I promise I am ONLY looking out for you.

 

[bobbi-j]

They are 6 weeks old... is that too young to be outside? They seem to be almost fully feathered.

It's not too young. They'll be fine. Last year I brooded about 30 day-old chicks out in the coop in March in Minnesota. They had a heat lamp until they were fully feathered, and they got along just fine. If you have a way to keep them warm out in the coop, chickens don't NEED to be in the house. I think it's unhealthy for them to be in the house, myself. Think of all the dust and dander from them that's in the air you breathe.

I agree with Kiki, though, you need to make sure your coop and run are predator proof. "The suburbs" hold all kinds of potential predators. Raccoons, fox, opossums, hawks, even coyotes. You've probably never seen them before, because you've never put out a chicken buffet for them before.

 

[erinphelps]

It's not too young. They'll be fine. Last year I brooded about 30 day-old chicks out in the coop in March in Minnesota. They had a heat lamp until they were fully feathered, and they got along just fine. If you have a way to keep them warm out in the coop, chickens don't NEED to be in the house. I think it's unhealthy for them to be in the house, myself. Think of all the dust and dander from them that's in the air you breathe.

I agree with Kiki, though, you need to make sure your coop and run are predator proof. "The suburbs" hold all kinds of potential predators. Raccoons, fox, opossums, hawks, even coyotes. You've probably never seen them before, because you've never put out a chicken buffet for them before.

We had some ducks 2 years ago and never had problems with predators but I guess I'm not saying we won't in the future... I'll look up ways to prevent predators from getting them. Thank you!

 

[Kiki]

Good.