Spoiled chickens.. time to get out into the coop! HELP!!!

[WillsMama93]

Not sure if this is the right spot for this post.. but I have a question about moving the chickens out to the coop.

The oldest girls are 17 weeks, the youngest are 15 weeks. We have been late getting the coop built, and they have been living in the house in a large brooder cage.
Now, we live in North Louisiana, and it's hot here, in the mid to high 90's most days. The humidity can make it feel like 100+. The coop we designed is very open in the front, and vented well, but I am concerned about taking them from the nice, air conditioned enviroment they have been spoiled to, into the summer heat.

Any suggestions? Do I need to take them out only in the evenings for awhile? Or should I raise the temp in the house during the day, and take them out to the coop in the evenings? I don't want to come home after work to chickens who dies from heat-stroke.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[kinnip]

I recently put my 8 week olds out. The change in temps was definitely a shock to them. In retrospect, I wish I had taken them out for a couple of hours each day, so they could acclimate. Even barring the gradual introduction to the great outdoors, I should have put them out in the evening that first day. I've been feeding them lots of chilled watermelon and adding ice to their water. I even tried putting out some blue plastic ice packs (not the flimsy bag kind). They seem to have acclimated pretty quickly, but those first few days were clearly tough on them. We'll be installing a second fan in the coop this week.