Transition to coop in hot weather

[msviolaceous]

I have some wayyy overgrown chicks in the house in air conditioning. I live in a warm climate, with highs in the upper 80's to low 90's and very humid. It doesn't really cool off much at night, either. The coop is done and we just need to finish fencing the run. I did a search and found a thread where they recommended slowly transitioning chicks to the coop over the course of a month, gradually increasing the time they were out there. I work and seriously can't be shuttling chickens back and forth all day, plus they really have no business being in the brooder any longer (my fault, I know.)

The coop is well-ventilated with large vents on each wall and one side almost entirely mesh. They have access to full shade in the run.

How do I go about transitioning them? How necessary is it? Can I do it over the holiday weekend maybe?

 

[AlexKilpatrick]

I'm interested in this one as well. I have some 4-week old chicks that really need to move out of the brooder and out of the house.

I can't imagine taking a whole month to do this. That sounds crazy. From what I have read, as long as they are fully feathered, and have plenty of water they can be outside full time. I put mine outside today (low 90s) and they seemed very happy. I'm watching for signs that they are too hot (panting,etc.), but if they do well today I am just going to leave them out overnight.

 

[turbodog]

A month?! I took my 4 week olds out to the coop and said have at it. It's just as hot and humid here but they love being out there with all the extra space to run around. Keep an eye on them to be sure there's no heat stress but otherwise, I say go for it. Get that run finished pronto. They'll appreciate it.

 

[msviolaceous]

Gosh, maybe there's a better section for this question? If nobody has a better idea I guess i'll just transition them over the holiday weekend.

 

[blkwdw]

The temps here are 90-100 day/ 70-80 at night and I took my 4 week old chicks out to the pen as we were making it (over the course of 3 days) and then left them in it at the end of the 3 days.. Now granted, I have to round them up at night to put them in the house, they want to stay in the coop...probably cooler, but they are doing fine out there.

 

[Capvin]

We live in Central Florida and it is hot. When my chicks were 4 weeks old we put them into their coop and run and they loved it immediately. It did take them a couple of more weeks before they learned to go up the ramp and put themselves to bed in their coop so we went out every night and put them in. Once they learned to go in by themselves they nover forget.

 

[AlexKilpatrick]

I put my 4 week olds in the coop (8'x8') overnight last night and they seem to love it. They have so much more room to spread out and run around. In Texas it varies from high 90s during the day to low 80s at night, and it doesn't seem to affect them at all. My coop has a ton of shade, though.