Too cold for baby chicks?

[mya_975]

Hello, I have rirs’s one is around 6 weeks and the rest are 5ish weeks. The one that is 6 weeks is fully feathered and the rest are almost fully feathered but still have some down on them. Once they are all fully feathered will they be okay to be outside? I live in New Jersey and the weather is around 60-70 degrees in the daytime and around 40-50/60 degrees at night. My neighbors have been telling me that I will probably need to keep them inside all winter but it’s not really ideal. They don’t really sleep under the heat lamp anymore, and the temp in the garage is about the same as outside maybe 5° warmer. Do you guys think It will be okay to have them outside once they are 6 weeks and in the winter? Thanks.

 

[Coops Dad]

No; they'll be fine outside at those temps. They'll cuddle for warmth when they need it. Keep them fed with a good high protein starter, keep clean water available and give them a well ventilated, draft free home and they'll thrive.

I put my RIRs and Bresse chicks out in a tractor at 3 weeks. We got temps down to 43* and they formed a cuddle puddle under the coop overhang rather than go inside.

 

[Coops Dad]

Two weeks in a tub brooder, three weeks in the tractor (plus two Broad Breasted White turkey poults @5 weeks old).

 

[rosemarythyme]

If they were fully off heat with the garage is only 5F warmer, they could be out now. Sounds like you still have the heat lamp going, so for the next week get it moved further away, dim it, or replace the bulb with a lower wattage and get them fully off heat.

I have 4 week olds off heat in cooler temps, but I raise them outside so no need to harden to temps. They do NOT need to be fully feathered to move out.

 

[mya_975]

If they were fully off heat with the garage is only 5F warmer, they could be out now. Sounds like you still have the heat lamp going, so for the next week get it moved further away, dim it, or replace the bulb with a lower wattage and get them fully off heat.

I have 4 week olds off heat in cooler temps, but I raise them outside so no need to harden to temps. They do NOT need to be fully feathered to move out.

Great thanks! I weened them off all week and I’m planning on taken it completely off sometime today or tomorrow! I’m gonna see how they do and then move them outside. It’s actually pretty warm outside it’s like 79° in the day time now so I think they should be more then fine. They’re fully feathered except for a little bit on their head.

 

[Tonyroo]

Two weeks in a tub brooder, three weeks in the tractor (plus two Broad Breasted White turkey poults @5 weeks old).View attachment 3310892View attachment 3310893

Did you hatch those?

 

[Coops Dad]

The chicks, yes; the poults, no. They're store bought.

 

[3KillerBs]

I live in New Jersey and the weather is around 60-70 degrees in the daytime and around 40-50/60 degrees at night.

I'm taking advantage of this warm spell to get my 4-week-olds out of the outdoor brooder and into the integration pen inside the coop.

They weren't really sleeping *under* the brooder plate anyway. They were sleeping around it instead.

 

[Beccichka]

I'm taking advantage of this warm spell to get my 4-week-olds out of the outdoor brooder and into the integration pen inside the coop.

They weren't really sleeping *under* the brooder plate anyway. They were sleeping around it instead.

My chicks are 4 weeks and seem to not want to sleep under the brooder plates. We've raised them, but they seem to be choosing to huddle (uncomfortably) outside of the plates. The room ranges from 65-68. Do they not need the plates at this point?

 

[Coops Dad]

That's not uncomfortable for them if they're avoiding the heat plate; they enjoy cuddling together. My most recent hatch are 6 weeks old and sleep in a cuddle puddle under the grow-out coop rather than sleep inside on straw bedding or a roost bar.