Transition Age/Temperature

[Dementra]

Hello All! Before I begin, I will mention I did attempt to search for this answer on here, but couldn't really find the answer in regards to our situation.

So this is our first flock and I have no experience when it comes to when is the right time to put my chickens out in our big permanent coop/run. I live in Ohio and the temperature today is around 40 degrees F, and only going up to about 46 at the highest and lows overnight will be in the 30's. This whole week is going to be relatively cool like that with highs going up to 60 by Thursday, but of course by the weekend we're expecting Thunderstorms (possibly strong ones) . My flock are all 7 weeks old today, and the hatchery I got them from (Meyer) told me that at 6-8 weeks they could be put outside full-time if the temperature was around 65 degrees. They are all fully feathered out and getting bigger every week. I have 22 dual breeds and 5 Cornish cross broilers, and I have those separated in another brooder from the rest- and they are humongous! We're gonna process the broilers in a week anyway, however, I would like to put them outside as well for a week before then because even though we bought those specifically for meat purposes. I'm a big softy about animals in general- even if they're future food, so I'd like them to get a week of free-ranging in if possible before they take up residence in our freezer. LOL

So, given those temperatures and my gang being 7 weeks old now, is it still too cold for them at that age to be outside all the time? (Plus, very anxious to get my 1 week old ducklings moved to the larger brooder the X's are using since they're rapidly outgrowing the big brooder tub we have had them in since we got them! They sure grow a heck of a lot faster than the chicks did!!)

Thanks for your help!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

At 7 weeks they are ready for those temperatures.
However, with this caveat. Remove the heat they have now and give them a couple days to acclimatize to the cooler temps.

 

[Dementra]

Awesome!! Thank you! That was what I was hoping! I see so many who have chickens outside much younger at lower temperatures- even in snow, and just seemed weird why I wouldn't be able to get them out there at this point! Being my first flock though, I've been super over-protective of them. I guess I'm a natural "mother hen" LOL

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I understand.
A mother hen doesn't heat all the ambient air, she just provides a hot spot.
I use the guideline of one spot in a brooder at 90 the first week, 85 the second, 80 the third, 75 the fourth, 70 the sixth and 65 the 7th. But that is with much cooler temperatures in the rest of the brooder, the way a mother hen does. I've had baby chicks with mother hens running around at 30 and lower. She doesn't warm all the ambient air. They run under her when they are chilled for a bit and then out running around in the cold air.
By the time you get down to 60s in the guideline I posted, they are ready for anything with acclimation.
ETA
I actually don't follow that guideline most of the time, I use it to determine when they can handle outside temps (and usually they can handle lower much sooner).
I usually provide a heat plate or other heat element and the rest of the large brooder is much cooler and leave it like that till they go outside.

 

[Dementra]

I understand.
A mother hen doesn't heat all the ambient air, she just provides a hot spot.
I use the guideline of one spot in a brooder at 90 the first week, 85 the second, 80 the third, 75 the fourth, 70 the sixth and 65 the 7th. But that is with much cooler temperatures in the rest of the brooder, the way a mother hen does. I've had baby chicks with mother hens running around at 30 and lower. She doesn't warm all the ambient air. They run under her when they are chilled for a bit and then out running around in the cold air.
By the time you get down to 60s in the guideline I posted, they are ready for anything with acclimation.

That makes so much more sense when you put it that way. I've read SO many articles and posts and watched SO many videos and that part has always been really confusing to me. Thank you for clearing this up!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That makes so much more sense when you put it that way. I've read SO many articles and posts and watched SO many videos and that part has always been really confusing to me. Thank you for clearing this up!

Commercial operations use the temperature table I mentioned. They heat an entire building to those temps. But they don't have 5, 10 or even 50 chicks. They may have hundreds of thousands to a million of the same age chicks in a building. They don't have the luxury of raising the chicks more naturally. Chicks are healthier, for a backyard/barnyard environment, if they can experience cold at a much younger age as long as they can find that hot spot to warm their core. With 27 birds, yours can huddle if they get chilled, unlike someone who only has 3.

 

[aart]

ETA
I actually don't follow that guideline most of the time

I wondered!