Too cold to put pullets outside?

[dlamb82]

Hello All,

so I had a late hatch in October and I now have 5 13 week old pullets/Cockrills in browsers still. They’re too big to be in there anymore but I’m worried that it’s too cold to put them outside. We’ve been getting below freezing temps here in VA and I don’t want them to die. Anyone have experience with this? I have a way to put them out with the flock in a separate coop so they’ll have visibility to the flock but not interact with them yet BUT I don’t have a way to run electricity to the coop so not heat lamp or anything out there. I’ve turned the heat lamp off inside on the brooder so they could get acclimated to colder temps but the coldest they’ve experiences is 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Thoughts and advice please?

 

[LizzzyJo]

At 13 weeks they will be just fine. No worries! They are fully feathered. Are the cold hardy breeds?

 

[Amer]

They’ll be completely fine. Put them out there.

 

[Hughes Wildlife Farm]

I have 2.. This is their "week 4" I started them in broader, and took them off heat lamp 4days ago, but left them in a well heated room. Today I'm putting them in the livingroom (not as heated as the livingroom door opens and closes alot) but normal temp is 68). I'm looking to move them to the basement (more like 58 degrees) for week 5. If they thrive there and stay active, I will be moving them outside by week 7-8.... And I'm in Massachusetts, so monitoring major weather changes will be my determining factor on when they actually go outside. Going from 58 to 5 degrees will shock them. So I'm hoping for more of 40degree days as a transfer temp. This will be my 1st attempt at transferring chicks to outdoors during the winter too.

 

[dlamb82]

At 13 weeks they will be just fine. No worries! They are fully feathered. Are the cold hardy breeds?

Yes they should be, they’re mix breeds. Mom is an Easter Egger and I’m pretty sure the 1 dad is my GLW for 3 of them and I think my BLRW is the dad for the other two based off of colors however I know with Easter Eggers they can throw different colors etc because they’re mixed breed birds.

 

[CatWhisperer]

I personally think they need a little slower acclimatization time. They certainly may live through it but for my own birds I would start putting them outdoors somewhere safe during warmer days to become accustomed to the lower temperatures. I have 3 month old serama chicks in my house that I put out in my garden whenever the temps get above about 45. Serama are less cold tolerant than bigger breeds but my few adults free range with all the other bigger chickens.

 

[featherhead007]

You can put them out there, but watch out for the separation anxiety you are gonna feel!