Moving my 5 1/2 week olds to the coop overnight - A good idea?

[Apomerantz]

I have 6 silkie chicks that are a bit over 5 weeks old. I have had them off the heat lamp for over a week and the last 2 nights they slept in my garage in their brooder. At night they all pile on each other and sleep, but by the time I check on them in the morning they are busy pecking around, so they don't seem too cold. I want to move them to my coop. It is small and I will have the door closed, so they will be bundled down in wood chips and it should be fairly warm. I live near Seattle and it has been topping out at about 60ish during the day, so it is fairly cold at night. Because of the fire hazard and the fact that I don't have an extra heat lamp I am not putting a lamp on them at night. Will they be ok in the coop overnight? They are pretty fluffy and haven't had any problems spending the day outside the past few days.

Amy

 

[bigoakhunter]

They should do fine. I move mine out to coop when they are 3 weeks old. But they have a heat lamp in coop for 2 weeks until about 5-6 weeks of age. I have not had a problem. I am in Michigan , where the weather is not that nice.

 

[felidaet]

My chicks range in age from 6 - 9 weeks old. They have been in the brooder for a couple of weeks. I have been using a heat lamp at night because the temperatures have been so cool. I have about the same night time temperatures (I live about 160 miles south of you.) Seeing the weather forecast for the next seven days, I am considering eliminating the night time heat starting tomorrow. I will only use the heat lamp in the evening to draw them into the coop. After I have them locked in I will turn it off. I will check the forecast again tomorrow evening before I decide for sure.

 

[Peppermint]

felidaet siggy:
"1 Silver Laced Wyandotte, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, 1 Rhode Island Red, 3 Easter Eggers, 3 Barred Rock, 2 Welsummer, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 White Leghorn, 1 Brown Leghorn, 1 Gold Comet.

New chicks in 2010: 1 BLRW, 2 Delaware, 2 Mixed Maran,1 GLW, 4 RIR, 1 Partridge Rock, 4 EE, 1 Welsummer, 2 White Leghorn, 2 Gold Sex Link, 1 Black Sex Link, 1 Speckled Sussex, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Columbian Wyandotte."

I like your chicken math!!!!

 

[Apomerantz]

Well, I did end up locking them in the garage again, but it looks like it will be a nice day, so maybe I will lock them in the coop tonight.
Amy

 

[catdaddy66]

I also have placed my 5.5 week olds in the coop, and did so at dusk. This was not a grand scheme but it worked out well. The chicks were docile as they were bedding down for the evening, and the transition to the coop went well with very little squawking and general cacaphony. They were fine the next morning (yesterday) and have adjusted to the feeder/waterer set up well. I have not yet seen them on the roosts yet but that will happen soon. You can always trust chicks to be chicks!

I DO live in the south, and our nighttime temps are 65-68 degrees, while days have been 85-90 degrees. My two EE's have been doing great and are about 14 weeks old. They have been outside since 4/1/10.