Month and a half old chicks. Can they be outside full time?

[ThickenTheChicken]

Hello, I have 3 chicks. Each are one month and a half old chicks. They are living outside (northern Florida) during the day but I’m moving them inside a cage at night. My question is, can I keep them outside? They are near my older chickens when they are outside. I have seen a raccoon in the yard, but I lock the cages. Pic of cage included. Thanks

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hello, I have 3 chicks. Each are one month and a half old chicks. They are living outside (northern Florida) during the day but I’m moving them inside a cage at night. My question is, can I keep them outside? They are near my older chickens when they are outside. I have seen a raccoon in the yard, but I lock the cages. Pic of cage included. Thanks

I'm also North Florida, and my mutts are outside by seven weeks routinely. We do have some (for us) bitter cold coming up, which the birds should be fine with **IF** they are fully feathered. Some of my mutts, at three weeks, I'd probably keep inside Sunday night, and again on Monday, then Friday - all near freezing where I don't trust that their state of feathering is adequate, and I don't trust their behaviors either - I've had birds exclude members from the flock, preventing them from roosting together in the barn's grow out pen, which is fully weather sheltered. In more pleasant weather, that's much lass dangerous to the excluded bird.

Your coop/run has me greatly concerned, however. Trash Pandas are notorious for defeating latches and the like, while the spacing on the bars is such that they can reach right in. Nor does the space look so large that they might sleep out of reach of a cunning predator... Hardware cloth. Expensive, but worth it.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

First, do they have a predator proof coop? I'd keep them in that at night, with the option for them to be able to go in and out of it during the day.

Ok, what's the temperatures? If your temperatures are less then 70°-80°F, I'd only let them out a few minutes to half an hour at a time.

Have the heat lamp (or heat plate) already been removed? If not, you should ween them off of it until it's down to your outside temperature.

 

[ThickenTheChicken]

The temp is 70-80 most the time even without the heat lamp. I leave them outside a couple hours during the day and then bring them inside (a cage in the house) at night. Warm nights I don’t turn on heat lamp 70-80. I haven’t been using it since it has been warmer out. My chicks seem to be fully feathered. Here is a better pic of their day enclosure.

The enclosure is next to my larger hens run so they can eventually accept the younger ones.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

The temp is 70-80 most the time even without the heat lamp. I leave them outside a couple hours during the day and then bring them inside (a cage in the house) at night. Warm nights I don’t turn on heat lamp 70-80. I haven’t been using it since it has been warmer out. My chicks seem to be fully feathered. Here is a better pic of their day enclosure.

The enclosure is next to my larger hens run so they can eventually accept the younger ones.

Ok. Then they should be good outside then.

 

[3KillerBs]

Ok, what's the temperatures? If your temperatures are less then 70°-80°F, I'd only let them out a few minutes to half an hour at a time.

I'd expect well-feathered 6-week-olds to have already been off heat unless the weather is extremely severe.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

For the benefit (or envy) for our Northern friends, in my stretch of FL, next Thursday's low is currently projected to be 57 degrees. The overnight lows have been mostly mid 60s the last few weeks, when the temp dropped till it hit the dew point. Last night's low was 73, I believe. Tonight's projected is low 73, as well.

Tommorow night, its 37. Following overnight showers tonight and thunderstorms Sunday. I call that a recipe for frost bite, and a lot of temperature stress for very young birds, thus my comments above about Sunday, Monday (colder still), and Friday. All expected to be near freezing, windy, and with lots of available moisture.

 

[ThickenTheChicken]

Okay so they can live outside soon, but it’s best I wait till this bad weather passes. And maybe invest in hardware cloth if the raccoon doesn’t leave. Thank you everyone for the input!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Okay so they can live outside soon, but it’s best I wait till this bad weather passes. And maybe invest in hardware cloth if the raccoon doesn’t leave. Thank you everyone for the input!

I think that very wise. Continue doing as you are, bringing them out during the day to continue to acclimate, its a good plan. If they were fully feathered, and we weren't seeing this big swing in temps, wind, and rainfall, I'd expect you would be moving them out around this time.

Best of luck with the raccoon.