Putting Chicks in Outside Brooder and a few ???'s

[BriteChicken]

I have chicks ranging from 4 weeks to 8 weeks that I put in the outside brooder today bc 1. They were too big for the bathtub 2. I couldn't get the temperature below 85 degrees.

So here are my questions it's a balmy 85* outside today and I have a box turned on it's side if they want to go in it but do I need to do anything else for them they have a lot of feathers on them do I need to turn the heat lamp on at dusk? and just keep lowering the degrees each week at night?

I'm sorta lost without them in the house and will probably check on them multiple times tonight

 

[WingingIt]

How cold is it supposed to get there tonight? I think you're probably going to need a light out there but it might be really warm there at night, I'm not sure what your temp. is going to be. I checked on mine when they first went outside at night, too.

 

[bibliophile birds]

so glad you asked this, as i was about to post the same question.

mine is a mixed bunch, ranging from 3 week old hen-raised chicks to 3 and 4 week old poults i bought today, out in my chicken tractor. most are about 1/2 feathered, with the older poults being mostly feathered. they HAD to go outside because my next batch of chicks hatched today- 2 days early- and i needed the brooder for them. the hen that was raising the chicks attacked the poults and couldn't even get the 5 chicks under her anymore (she's a Silkie and these are 3 LF and 2 silkies). the chicks have spent the past 2 days outside, only coming in at night.

the low tonight MIGHT get down to 60, but i doubt it. these chicks have never had a heat source other than mom and they seem to be doing fine so far. they are snuggled in together. i mean, with the AC and the brooder being in the basement, the air temp has probably been hovering around 66F for them since day one.

the poults aren't settling, but i think that's because they are new and scared. i put a cat crate with shavings in it in the tractor with them and if they'd just get in it together they'd probably be nice and warm. i also threw a heavy cotton sheet over the tractor to keep some of the warmth in.

is this terrible? of course i'm having anxiety about it, but my options are pretty limited right now.

 

[countrychix]

I put my last batch of chicks out in the coop at 3 weeks old, I just couldn't stand the dust in my house any longer. It gets down into the 50's at night here so I do turn on a heat lamp for them, but honestly it is set high enough that I think they like it more for a light source than heat. My coop stays pretty warm without the lamp anyway.

 

[BriteChicken]

Hey guys I ended up putting a light out there just in case... it is 71* right now but I just wanted to make sure they are comfortable so it is 85* in the brooder do you think that's alright?

I'll turn it off during the day of course.

 

[brodavid77]

Had 14 chicks that was starting to smell up the house, no matter how often you cleaned the brooder, put them in the shed at 3 weels and their own pen at 6 weeks. temps been down to 59 and up to 93 so far and seen no distress.

 

[bibliophile birds]

well, everyone made it through the night here. it got down to 65, but they all looked completely unphased by it all. they didn't even get inside the crate, just slept in a little row in the grass IN FRONT of it. this morning they were up and running around, so i guess no harm done!

thank god.