When can chicks and ducklings go outside?

[jasmer]

Hey guys, we have a little chicken coop that looks like this one http://chickencoopshowtobuildfreepl...s.net/images/chicken-coop-designs-plans-3.jpg

My brother gave it to us, they were planning on raising ducks and it just never panned out and he had no more need for the coop. We have 11 easter egger chicks and 6 pekin ducklings, they're all about a week old. They get along fabulously. Anyway they act like they really could use a little more room and I was wondering if temps in the 50s are an "absolutely not" for one week old chicks/ducklings if they have free choice access to food, water, and a heated brooder area. Right now they're in the house, which is kept at around 70 degrees, and they seem to really just take or leave the heat lamp. Sometimes they sleep under the heat, sometimes they sleep in one of the cooler corners where it's only 70 degrees.

So if they had free open access to a heat lamp in an enclosed area that can be closed in at night to retain heat, would this be an absolutely not kind of thing or do you think this would be okay? It gets down into the 30s at night but like I said I can close them off with a heat lamp so that's irrelevant. Average daily temps outside are in the mid 50s, sometimes dipping into the high 40s if it's rainy and icky (which they would be penned up so they can't get wet anyway).

What do you guys think? Jumping the gun? They seem a little bored, every time I open the door they crowd it trying to get out. A few of the chicks habitually flap their newly feathered wings and hop into my lap or try to get around me to escape. Seems obvious to me that they want to run around and explore, but it ain't happening in my house.

 

[TheItyBittyBarn]

For chicks and ducklings this young I would say that it is deffinatly too early to let them outside. Chicks should be at temperatures starting at 95 degrees when hatched dropping 5 degrees every week for 5 to 6 weeks. You should provide this type of heat using a heat lamp that you can buy at your local farm store. Your chicks will also show you how hot or cold they are depending on where they are. If they are all huddled together under the lamp they are cold. If they are all touching the outer walls of the pen they are too hot. If they are about evenly distributed through the pen then they are comfortable. When they are about 5 to 6 weeks old or fully feathered you are able to let them out into the outdoors and you can unplug and remove the heat lamp. Chicks also should be inside for the reason that drafts are a leading cause of chick sickness and death. When drafts from wind hit the chicks they cannot keep a constant body temperature and usually do not do very well from there out. Hope that this helps!

 

[jasmer]

Chicks are a week old, area under lamp is 80 degrees and they're hopping around doing chick things, nobody's huddled together craving warmth. In fact I was worrying that it's too warm since they all sleep on the other side of the brooder away from it. My research into the matter never did give me an answer, but it indicated I ought to just toss out the thermometer anyway and let the chicks tell me if they're warm enough, and that certainly seems to be the case for me. We had it at 95 and they couldn't get far enough away from it. Lowered it to 85, then 80, they're happy as clams. Nobody acts cold or anything.

So this is why I thought I would ask. Even at the co-op where they picked them up the brooder lamps seemed like they were up a little high.

This temperature thing really confuses me. My chicks seemed very unhappy when it was 95 in there. Down at 80 now and they're very happy. Is the 95 the first week like a hard rule? My chicks seem fine but obviously I don't want to hurt them. The draft thing never occurred to me though, and I'll keep them inside. I was just worried how fast they might out grow the indoor coop or if they'll go all crazy and start pulling their own feathers or anything.

 

[Liberty Nursery]

I never measured the temp of my brooder, I just adjusted the light height in accordance to how the chicks acted. If they are under the light they are cold, if they are off in a dark corner they are too hot. If you want to move them outside early consider building a brooder out of straw bales just be sure to have a decent roof over it. If someone posts after me saying I am giving you bad advice listen to them, I have only had chickens for a month. Just telling you what how I handled the same situation just recently.

 

[jasmer]

Yeah, I'm just not sure what to do. Also I was mistaken on the temperature. My husband pointed out the thermometer I was using didn't work well and switched it out. It's about 90 directly below the lamp and 85 in the immediate area. The chicks and ducks are all way over on the other side as far away from it as they can get. I just don't know what to do, they obviously don't like the lamp. This is day two of the lamp shunning btw.











Do I just have the lamp too close? It's 90 directly under it so even with a properly working thermometer I wouldn't think it's too hot but they won't sit under it for more than a couple minutes at a time and the occasional "OH IT'S SOOOO WAAAAAARM" nap. When they all go to sleep at night they go all the way to the other side of the coop away from the lamp, chicks cuddle up with the ducks and shun the lamp. I don't know what to do. Should I move it up higher and see how they like it?

 

[pwand]

Chicks are too warm when away from the lamp. Raise it up to reduce the heat for them.

 

[farmer boy]

are you keeping all of the birds in that coop ??? i let my chicks outside that day i got them they had little feathers on them but it was only for them to play i put them outside in my garage but it was really warm in there and by the time they got feathered in i let them go outside and stay outside with no heat lamps at all

 

[jasmer]

Well I was asking because it's in the 50s during the day, wasn't sure if that's okay for day old chicks. We were considering leaving them out during the day in a covered run and bringing them in at night.

 

[DianeS]

I brooded last year's chicks outside from day 1. I walled off a small area of the chicken run, and hung the heat lamp in it. I know the corners were cold, the "walls" I built were not exactly solid. But the area under the heat lamp was in the 90s, and the area near it was in the 80s. I'm sure the corners were in the 60s. The chicks were just fine - even at a day or two old.

Remember that chicks that are brooded by a live hen don't live in 90-degree temps every minute of the day. They get under her to get warm, then come out and run around in whatever temperature it happens to be outside, and then get back under mom to get warm again. Replicating that is just fine.

 

[V-NH]

When my chicks were just under 3 weeks old, one was injured and I had to remove it from the rest of the flock. I didn't have an extra brooder, so I put it in a cardboard box without a heat lamp. I keep my house on 68 degrees and it has done just fine without a heat lamp for nearly a week. That prompted me to begin turning off the heat lamp for the others during the day. I am not an expert on this subject, but I would just play it by ear and try to determine what your chicks can handle.

As for ducklings, mine are close to 4 weeks old now and they are massive. They also avoid the heat lamp at all costs no matter how high I set it above the brooder. Be ca careful keeping them in with your chickens as they get older, because at 4 weeks my ducklings are 5-6x larger than my chicks and could easily trample them. I brooded them together for a week, then I bought another stock tank and moved the ducklings to that one.