When can babies go outside?

[silkieluver]

I have two silkie babies that are about 8 weeks old. They are living in my living room & boy what a mess. I live in northern North Carolina and it has been very cold, so I know they can't go outside now, just wondering what is the "norm".
I just found this site & it is a wealth of information.
I also have a hen & roo about a year old that are outside, we have had them about 3-4 months & love, love, love them.

 

[lovemychicns]

Hi

I live in Maryland. I don't heat my coop and have been putting my babies out at 8 wks. My coop is insulated with that silver insulation you get at HomeDepot. Miss Prissy gave me a great tip and that is fill jugs like the one you get at walmart, 5 gal - 6 gal even milk jugs with hot to boiling water. I put them in the coop and it keeps the chicks warm. They can snuggle against it. Cover it with a towel if it seems to hot to the touch. I do this in the morning and at night for the first week. The second week I only do it at night or you can use smaller jugs so they start to acclimate to the temps. By the third week they are 10 wks and don't need the extra heat but I keep it up because my babies are spoiled. It the temps are 40 and above I don't put the water in the coop. Oh I also give them a box and some warm blankets to sleep in.

Hope this helps

Hugs
Karen

 

[silkieluver]

Thanks, my husband says I am overly protective. We have had these babies a month & couldn't stand it if something happened to them.

 

[coffeemama]

I put my babies out at 4 weeks in the late Fall with a heat lamp. They have done ok.

 

[willowcol]

We put ours out at 5-6 weeks but it wasn't this cold then. My husband made one of the cookie tin water heaters that was on a past post. He used a 25 watt bulb instead and a big popcorn tin. We put that in with the chicks it get warm but not hot, so they can huddle around it to get warm. It is on a timer so only comes on at night.

 

[silkieluver]

Do you all keep the seperated from your other chicks? My are in the backyard in a chain link fence & have the entire back yard. I am a little concerned about the 2 grown one I have, who, by the way, refuse to sleep in their house. They sleep on the ground near the gate. I think they are afraid they are going to "miss" something.

 

[willowcol]

Yes for now all my chickens are seperated. We divided a 16X10 shed into 5 smaller coops. I don't think I would put the babies with big chickens for a while. Can you make them a small area in the coop til they get bigger. Some of mine are 10 week now, they still are in a indoor coop, we haven't made thier runs yet.

 

[silkieluver]

I guess we can make a smaller area for the wee ones.

Thanks so much to all of you for the great advice.