Moving Chicks Outside

:welcome :frow You have been given some good advice. When I first put my chicks out into the chick/grow-out coop I do put a heat lamp initially for them. When they are a couple of months old I take it out. I do have a light in the coop that I leave on. I leave them in the coop for a couple of weeks so they get used to the coop as their safe place then I open the pop door to their pen. Good luck and have fun...
Here is some tips on predator proofing.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/tips-for-protecting-poultry-from-predators
Here are some of a recent hatch in their coop. They think they're hiding.
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Thank you for this note & the link! I was wondering about a light for them! I’ll put one in there. 👍 I love the picture they’re so cute lol! ‘Hiding’. 😂
 
Hi everyone! I'm super new to raising chickens & I have 3, 1 month old chicks who have most of their feathers (not completely feathered on their heads). One's foot was injured last week & they've been in separate brooders ever since. They've been out of their indoor brooders to socialize together & I feel that now all 3 can be contained together again, but I think they are too big to be in the brooder together. Their coop is not insulated but is well constructed & when I went to check today after a 3 day noreaster, it was bone dry inside. I'm in New England so the overnight temperature is still mildly unpredictable but nothing too dramatic - mostly hanging between 50-65 degrees. Their indoor brooder has a heat lamp that I did not know to gradually move further away, so they're used to having that.

Looks like it will start to rain overnight tonight & continue all day tomorrow.

My questions are:
1. Whether in or out, is it ok to leave the birds together overnight if the injured one seems healed & they've been in their run together all day without issue?

2. Will they be too cold out there & is the temperature a life threatening gamble?

3. If the answer is to bring them inside, do they all 3 go in together or put the one back in its own so they're not cramped?

4. If they stay out, will I open the coop door tomorrow if it's raining?

Going to read the forums to see if the answer is there while I wait! Thanks so much!
I have 7 babies with their mama that are 2-3 days old. Highs here in PA are 70’s, lows 50’s. The babies are out from under the mama for over an hour at a time and then one will start crying and the mama calls them all back under her. The oldest one, born this past Monday early morning, usually ignores the call and continues playing. In the morning they all come out from under her before it has even reached 55 degrees outside. They apparently don’t have to have a steady high heat like I had read with my first brooder babies. My brooder babies now are 3 weeks old and I just moved them outside. I only put a heat lamp on them for the first week and then turned it off and gave them a cozy coop heater (check at mypetchicken.com or elsewhere). I brought their heater outside and attached it to the coop wall. They only use it and night and play outside in their run starting at 5:30 in the morning. I am not an experienced chicken person, but this is what I have done and noticed and so far have been very happy with it. I would never use anything but that heater again because I believe it simulates the mama and quickly gets them toughened up to colder temperatures. I would probably wait at least 2 weeks to put yours outside no matter which method you use to toughen them up ahead of time. Hope that helps a little!
 
Thank you for that! I left them out in the coop last night w /a huddle box & they seemed just fine this morning & ever since! Hopefully that continues. My inexperience leaves me w/o a space large enough to give them another 2 weeks indoors for temperature toughening so I’ll def check out the cozy coop heater idea! Thanks again!
 
I have a space issue right now and lot and lots of chicks. Originally I put them on paper towels but I do have wire bottoms with trays under the wire to catch the poop.
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The teeny ventilation holes in the coop are not enough.
The coop itself is not really very predator proof because of the low quality materials and the method of construction. They are designed to look "cute" and the uneducated buyers snap them up only to find out later they aren't worth the money.
They need to be outside and being behind the hardware cloth of the open area will help but picture how hard it is going to be to clean that area out. You are going to need to expand the run and you will get help doing that in the Coop and Run Forum. Good luck.
Ok I’ve been working hard! Made a new run! I still have a few things to finish but they love it!! 🎉🎉🎉

Can I put new dirt in there? Store bought organic w/compost?
 

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Ok I’ve been working hard! Made a new run! I still have a few things to finish but they love it!! 🎉🎉🎉

Can I put new dirt in there? Store bought organic w/compost?
Any dirt is fine as long as there's no fertilizers, chemicals, etc added in - like if I was going to add dirt I'd add cheap topsoil. Depending on your climate and drainage though, you might want to look into adding other forms of litter instead, whether it's sand or deep litter.
 

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