need some advice

[jacoblipford]

I have 13 rir chicks in the house there about 3 maybe 4 weeks old they all have feathers on their wings and tail some of them are starting on their back would it be okay to put em in the coop with a lamp on at night for em lately its been around 55 to 60 degrees but getting up in the 80's this weekend also just got 5 EE's pullets today there about 3 days old there staying in the house for now in a different brooder the rir's i would think would be to ruff on em need to be a little bigger. Do i need to add grit to their feed im feeding dumor 20% starter going to get some co-op brand starter soon. what age will they be the fully feathered ?

 

[lady feathers]

I don't know for certain because this is my first batch of chicks this year but from what I've been seeing in these forums is that some people move their chicks into the coop with temps like your or even lower as long as there is plenty of bedding to nest into and that the temp under the lamp is appropriate for the age... if your are about 4 week their temps sould be down to 70-75ish so not too far from outside temps. If it were me I would do it as long as your weather has been consistent and your coop isn;t drafty especially if they aren't fully featherd yet. shouldn't be long though most of my 4 week olds are covered everywhere but their heads with the exception of a few of my roos. As for the EE's I agree keep them seprate for now or they may get trampled if the older/bigger birds were to get startled. My understaning is that the starter rations are specially formulated so you wouldn't need to add grit yet, however you may want a second opion form someone with more knowlede about that. May make a difference too if you are letting them free-range yet or not. Free-ranging I would think they would eat up enough gravel/sand for what their little bodies require right now! Good luck!