Moving 4 week old chicks outside to hen house??

[CLOUDNINE]

I am very new to chicken raising. We have finished our hen house and I am wanting to get the chicks out there. My question is, do they still need the heat lamp at this point?? I am planning on locking them in at night, but it is still getting chilly at night here, so do I need to install the heat lamp for them? They have all developed probably 90% of their real feathers, and look like mini chickens at the moment

Also, I observed one of my chicks to be laying down a little funny. She seemed to sort of "sit sideways", if that makes any sense. Is it possible she injured herself over night, or could it be growth related??

I realize these two questions should probably be in different topic areas, but it seemed easiest to ask all at once

Thanks!

 

[Fierlin1182]

The heat lamp outside really depends on the temperatures outside. By four weeks, our chicks were probably ready to go outside for the night, but we kept them indoors for another couple of weeks. You might want to try putting the chicks out without a lamp, and observing if they seem to behave like they're cold, huddling together or cheeping loudly.

As for your sideways sitting chicken, I'm not totally sure what that could be. I've never heard of something like this before! I hope you get an answer soon though.

 

[CLOUDNINE]

Thanks a lot Fierlin! I am hoping to get them set up in the coop this afternoon, but I think I better figure out how to wire some electric out there so I can still use the lamp if they need it The one chick will stand and walk and eat, etc and looks normal now, but she seemed "funny" earlier this morning. I think I will just keep an eye on her for now.

 

[Fierlin1182]

If it's too hard to get electricity out to the coop, it might just be easier to keep them in the brooder for a while longer. See how they go, they might not need the light. I've heard people suggesting going out to check the chicks every half hour, just make sure they'll be okay for the night.

If it's not a permanent thing and she seems healthy, I wouldn't be too worried about it.
Good luck.

 

[ButchGood]

Ive done the same thing with my chicks at 3 weeks. I put the heat lamp on at 10:00 pm and turn it off at 6:00 am. At daylight they go outside in a "playpen" I built for them inside the run. At dusk I put them back in the coop. After this weekend mine will be 4 weeks old. That's when I'm putting the heat lamp away. I'm in Texas and the weather is Beautiful right now. There is 16 of them and I haven't seen them huddle up to keep warm since they were 1 week old and we lost power due to a storm. I think the Heating of the brooder rules need to be rewritten. My guys have always liked it about 10 degrees cooler than recommended.

 

[chicken pickin]

The laying sideways thing is normal. My chicks all do it they are 5 1/2 weeks. They lay down and then lean to their side and kinda sprawl their wing out so you can see underneath it. They look silly but i think they are just sun bathing or heat lamp bathing lol.

 

[CLOUDNINE]

Well, I got back home too late to give the ladies time to settle into their new home before it gets dark, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to move them to the coop

Some good news though.... the little hen that was laying sideways seems fine tonight I think Chicken Pickin was probably right, maybe she was lamp bathing this morning I just finished freshening up their food and water and she was right there with the rest of them once the new stuff was put in the brooder!

Thanks y'all!!