Moving outside?

[pecangrove]

The 3 bantam chicks I have are almost 3 weeks old. They have their wing feathers, and some of the tail feathers. One of them even has started using the roost bar I put in their cage.
My question is this... in about a week or so I am expecting some more eggs to hatch. So knowing that the youngest can't be kept with the older ones yet I will need to move the older ones elsewhere. I have a large raised coop outside that is covered on one end and filled with straw, with a plastic box inside, too. The weather here is about 75-80 during the day down to about 55-60 at night. If I were to move them outside this week would I need to get a heat lamp for them or do you think the weather/straw/box combo would be enough?
Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd put them out. If you're worried, put a heat lamp in and turn it on if it will be dropping below 60 at night.
Since you can put a heat lamp in the coop, if it were me, I'd put the new chicks in the coop when they're about a week old. If you wait much longer the older ones will have started establishing their pecking order making introduction harder.

Here are chicks about 3 weeks apart in age.

 

[pecangrove]

Ok thanks! The coop I will moving them to is not the permanent one... it's more of a grow out pen really for bitties. A very safe way to move them outdoors to start off with, before they are moved to the portable pen.