Ok to move 4 week olds to coop? Mama nerves!

[Diesel84]

Hey BYC! So I successfully have 3 cute lil black australorps cheep-cheep-cheeping around their brooder happily thanks to all the great advice I got here! My girls will be 4 weeks old this week and I was considering moving them outside to their coop/run next week.. Will this be too soon? The temps here in Orlando, FL have been fluctuating from 80-86 degrees during the day and 61-65 degrees at night. I have their mobil coop/run in my garage at the moment and just yesterday put them in the coop w/o access to the run last night so they can get used to being in it, roost and have access to the heat lamp. Should I keep the heat lamp inside the coop when I move them out? I notice alot of BYCers said to have the chicks at a 95 degree temp and gradually decrease 5 deg. per week, but mine started out at 90 degrees and have gradually moved down to 75-80 degrees now at 3 1/2 weeks.. Another question is should I keep the heat lamp outside in their coop when I move them? I don't have a source of electricity out there so i'd have to run an extension cord inside the house to the lamp

And what if it rains? Agh - I'm a Nervous chick mom wreck!!

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

My oldest girls just turned 4 weeks today. They do not have enough feathers yet to put outside (no coop or run yet anyway

) because we are getting rain and cooler temps for the last week and a half. BUT I bet you could move your girls out.

Good luck!

 

[abanjaf]

Hey there, neighbor! I live in Cocoa, Florida. My 7 weeks olds have been outside full-time, no lamp for the last 2 weeks. My 3 1/2 week olds are outside all day in the coop (and have been for the past week without a lamp) and I still bring them in at night to sleep in the brooder (no lamp). I'll wait til they're 5 weeks old before letting them sleep out there, that's what I did with my older batch of chicks and they are just fine If I moved them out now, I would definitely put a heat lamp out there with them since they're not fully feathered yet.

 

[patnjess]

Me too ditto, and also hi neighbor, I'm in inverness, the other way

Quote:

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

OK first off put the lamp out there with them and as for the extension cord if your that worried about it get a 50-100 foot one make sure it is a heavy duty one it will say it on it then get some outdoor duct tape and tape the conection there you go problem solved for you to have the heat lamp outside.

As for them needing a good bit of heat that depends on how cold it is at night, how much feathers they have, and how big the coop is you may only need a 60 watt bulb in a corner of it so this way if they get cold they can go there and get warm but they will huddle togther to keep warm outside, you would be surprised at how chickens keep warm and how much body heat they give off.


I hope this helps a little bit Good luck to you

 

[Diesel84]

I'm so glad to see local BYCers! Hello Cocoa and Inverness!!

Should I start this week by turning off the heat lamp all day? Or should I leave it on during the day and turn it off at night? Or vice versa? Lol questions, questions, questions.. And what about if it rains? (We are expecting some this week..) And what about rain and a heat lamp? I'm so unsure!

 

[abanjaf]

My 3 1/2 week olds don't get the heat lamp whatsoever anymore (but my babies are in the house at night). The daytime temps have been quite lovely. Put them outside during the day and see how they do. They'll let you know if they're cold and huddled together. I'll see mine occasionally in a pile taking a nap during the day, but then they're up and running! So, basically it comes down to how you want to handle it. Take them off their light during the day for sure and put them outside. Since they're out in the garage and temps are cooler there then in the house they'll prob still need their lamp at night. Mine go outside all day, come in at night. You could do the same and then just gradually wean them off the lamp at night as temps warm up and more feathers come in OR move them outside full-time with the lamp at night. Your choice. You also might want to get them used to their new housing arrangements outside before moving them outside full-time by having "play times" outside each day first. PM if you want to talk on the phone or anything