The move to the coop

[hvacman]

Hi I was wondering when I should move my chicks to the coop. I have them in their brooder in my basement right now and they are three weeks old. I live in south central pa and it is still pretty cold( temps high in the 40s) They have alot of their feathers. I have 4 rirs and 4 red stars. I guess my question is how many weeks old is ok to move them outside? And what's should the temps be?

 

[teach1rusl]

If you'll be using a heat lamp in the coop (assuming it's draft free), then they can go now. But if there won't be a lamp, then you'll want to wait at least 2-3 more weeks for your area. And you'll want to start weaning them off of the lamp gradually. You can do that by moving the lamp further and further away over the course of a week or two, or by reducing the wattages of the bulbs you're using.
You just don't want a really big temp. difference (even for adult birds). So if they've done okay overnight in your basement (say, around 55-60 degrees), then they'd probably do okay (without a lamp) at night time temps of 10-15 degrees less than that. But you wouldn't want them going from 55-60 down to freezing.

I've always given mine the boot around 3 weeks, but with a lamp (because it's always been early spring or late fall, so a bit cold).