Letting them sleep outside - help!!

[jenniferrose]

We have 5 6.5 week old chicks. They spend the days in the coop and come in at night. They refuse to come in tonight and are hiding in a back corner we can't reach. Are they safe outside? We have an expected low of 47 tonight.
Thanks!!

 

[LubbockClint]

I would say no if it's going to be 47 outside.

 

[orumpoultry]

If they haven't been weaned off of a heat lamp yet, no. They could chill and potentially die, even at almost seven weeks.

 

[Blooie]

Last year mine were 5.5 weeks old when they went out to live in the coop full time. It was April 1st, and temps were in the 20s. Two days later it snowed, and we got snow up until June 6th. I had put a heat lamp out there for them the first two nights, but they never used it - they piled in a heap of feathers next to the pop door and there they stayed. So the lamp came out on that third morning, with the snow following right after that. They are now a year old, one has brooded a clutch, and the others are strong, healthy, and active. My next batch of chicks lived outside from the get-go, no heat lamp, no night light. Just a heating pad, a wire frame, a towel and some straw. Temps in the teens and twenties. They are now 7 and 8 weeks old, fully integrated with the Bigs, and doing great. They were evicted from the brooder pen in the run when they were 4 and 5 weeks old to make room for the Tinys, who went out there when they got here. They are now 3 weeks old today, doing great. Haven't lost a chick yet.

Of course, I can't tell you what to do. But yours are week older than mine were and your nights are a lot warmer than ours are.

 

[jenniferrose]

Thanks all! I ended up bringing them in last night. They have been off the heat lamp for several days.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

47* aint nothing to a 6 week old chicken. They should be almost fully feathered and do just fine.