North Texas 1st timers

[LCRanch]

Hello BYC friends. We are new to raising chickens - and we're excited about it. .

Facts:

•We live in North Texas
•Chicks age: 6 weeks
•Coop: half of an Old storage Shed for roosting. 1/3 of the shed has been allocated for the roosting chickens. Also, attached to the side of the shed, is a dog kennel (10' x 10') wide- which is outdoors.


Question:

We were wondering when we could let our chicks begin living outside? They have been brooding indoors since they were 2 weeks old. Since we have a warmer climate here... Could they begin staying outdoors in their coop? Or, do we need to wait another two weeks?

Our concern... Stunted growth. We have 8 golden sex linked chicks brooding in an extra large dog crate. The poor girls probably feel cramped.

 

[Den in Penn]

Welcome to BYC.
If you have a place for them to warm up you can raise them outside from the start. I do here in Pennsylvania, in March. Fully feathered, around five to six weeks like yours, they can go out without heat. By now yours will definitely like to have more room. Depending on the spacing of the wire in the kennel you may have to keep them in the coop for a little while longer. So they don't go on a unsupervised walk about.

 

[LCRanch]

Thank you for your reply.

Well... We don't have electricity running to the shed- for an external source of heat; however, it's very humid, and hot, inside the shed. The warmth from the shed is what has us thinking... they could be okay outside.

Currently, for the past two days, we've allowed them outside during the day. We bring them inside before nightfall.

 

[LCRanch]

This is our setup. The space alocated, inside the shed (where it is a sauna), is approximately 8.5' x 5.5' x 8' (LxWxH).

The attached dog kennel is 10' x 10'.

 

[Den in Penn]

Looks like a decent setup. The amount of feathering on yours is good enough to stand the outside. In fact heat may be a problem latter when the heat really turns on. Make sure they have sufficient ventilation.