Two questions from a new to chickens owner...

[MIChickens84]

My baby chicks are now 4 weeks old (not so small or baby anymore). We live in Mid-Michigan so it’s finally starting to warm up outside. This leads me to two questions...

1. When are the chicks ready to go outside? We’ve used the EcoGlow as their source of heat and they no longer use it at night. The basement is about 62 degrees on average. They are very alive and don’t appear cold in this temp.

2. Once we finally move the flock outdoors, what is the best way to teach them to go inside the coop at night. I’ve read to lock them on the inside portion of the coop for a week, is this the best method? Do you only do this at night or all day until they know that’s home? We will be using a shed style coop with an attached outdoor run.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MissMaple]

1. By week 4 you can start to take the chicks on outside trips and around week six (if they all have their adult feathers) they are ready to go outside.
2. Confining the new flock in the coop for 4-5 days ought a do it. If they still aren't going in you could try keeping them in for a bit longer, manually placing them in there until they get the hang of it, or, if there is electricity in the coop, turning on a light at dusk. The chickens won't want to be in the dark and will cuddle in the light.

 

[lazy gardener]

My babies wean themselves off their MHP by 4 - 5 weeks of age with night time temps 20's to 30's. If you have acclimated them to outdoor temps, they should be fine by 5 weeks of age. If you are concerned, you can give them a huddle box. I would put them in the coop for a day or two, as long as it does not get too warm in there. Then I'd open the pop door and let them out to explore. Do you have a predator and baby safe covered run for them?

 

[MIChickens84]

My outdoor run will be covered with hardware cloth going 2 ft deep all the way around. We have two German Shepherds that like the chicks and do a pretty good job of keeping predators out of the yard as well