Moving them to the coop and need a little hand holding

[bookwormofdune]

They are around 5-6 weeks old and seem fully feathered to me (first flock). Their coop and run should be done here in the next day or so and I was hoping to kick the little ones outside. Temps during the day have been 50-60 degrees, night obviously gets colder. They have been without a heat lamp for the last week or so but we keep it around 65-70 inside during the day and just let it cool at night. Please hold my hand and tell me they are ready to go outside lol.

 

[Rod-T]

Can you hang a light in coop ..just for at night

 

[bobbi-j]

They'll be fine.

 

[donrae]

They look quite ready. And you'll be glad to have your tub back!

Be prepared for lots of noise the first night(s). Chicks don't like change, and bedtime always seems to bring out the chirping and such. it will just take them a bit to figure out how to settle in, they'll huddle together and go to sleep.

 

[Blooie]

Yes, by all means get them out! Mine were 5.5 weeks when I put them out last year and I was so glad to do it! Our coop wasn't even finished but I couldn't handle the cheeping all night long, the dust, and the work for one more day! April 1, out they went!

The day I evicted them, I also put a heat lamp and a wireless thermometer in there. Big mistake! All night long I kept watching the numbers on that thermometer fall, and I kept jumping out of bed and checking on them. It was down to 20 degrees, yet every time I went out there and looked in on them they were sleeping soundly in a snuggly pile, nowhere near the heat lamp. The second night it was the same story, except I only got out of bed to check them once. Again, nowhere near the heat lamp. The third day the heat lamp came out. If they weren't going to use it, I wasn't going to risk a coop fire just to ease my own guilt. That night it snowed. We got our last snowfall June 6th, and the entire time they were out there growing and thriving.

Now I skip the heat lamp and the indoor brooding entirely. I brood all my chicks outdoors in a pen within the run (not the coop, because I felt that it would leave them and the older birds way too little floor space) and I haven't lost a chick or had one get sick yet. They are totally integrated with the adults by 4 weeks old.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors

So relax, have a glass of liquid courage, and pat yourself on the back for getting them to this point.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Put a high hanging heat lamp in the coop and run it at night for a few weeks, that's what I would do, checking them at night and seeing if they still are sleeping under it, and removing it when they seem to not need it.

 

[bookwormofdune]

Thank you guys I won't be running a lamp out there because 1. I don't have a good way to safely do it and 2. They've been sleeping fine in the bathroom without heat for a bit and it gets chilly in there at night. But I appreciate the advice hoping to kick them out Wednesday.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Good plan, and good luck, they will probably pile on the floor in the corner, they will be fine.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

As long as they're feathered out, they'll be fine. Moved ours out at 3.5 weeks, days were in the 60s, nights upper 30s. The week before that we had them out in the fresh air and sunshine during the day.

Moving day...

 

[aart]

They'll be fine as long as they are out of any drafts.
You'll both miss and be relieved at the lack of noise in the house.....
.....you won't miss the smell, and realize when you clean up the dust that you'd have put them out sooner.

I take mine off heat by about 3 weeks inside.....then....

I make them a 'huddle box', put it in the brooder after turning off the heat(you might have to 'persuade' them to use it), then move it out to the coop with them.
Cardboard box with a bottom a little bigger than what they need to cuddle next to each other without piling and tall enough for them to stand in.
Cut an opening on one side a couple inches from bottom and big enough for 2-3 of them to go thru at once.
Fill the bottom with some pine shavings an inch or so deep.
This will give them a cozy place to sleep/rest, block any drafts and help hold their body heat in.