When can they go outside?

[NevadaSilk]

I've got a hen and 10 chicks living in my garage at the moment in the middle of my stack of hay. I've got a coop being mended at the moment but need to know when I can put them out. They are a week old as of today. I live in Southern GA and right now our temps are in the 90s during the day and 60s at night. How old should the chicks be before I put them outside in the coop? I'm completely new to chicken ownership so I have no clue.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

This website has temperature recommendations:
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html


And this one is helpful general chick advice:
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingChicks.html

So it sounds like your daytime temps are going to be such that you are actually going to have to turn off the light for them so they don't overheat, but then turn it back on as it gets cooler. You want 90-95 for the first week of life, and decrease by 5 degrees per week until fully feathered - even on the head, usually around 6 weeks.

Do you have electricity in the coop? Were you going to brood them there? Lots of folks do, but just be safe with your light.

They need that perfect temperature (under the light) available, but need to be able to get away from the heat of it, too.

So how old are they?

For them to be in 60 degree temperatures with no heat, they should be fully feathered.

 

[Gardeninggranny]

Its plenty warm enough outside if they are with mom and they have shelter from any rain. But I would make sure they are all enclosed some way so the chicks aren't eaten by everything- even other hens will sometimes kill them. You'll lose a lot of chicks if you just let them roam free.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Hen.

I completely missed that part, lol.

I agree with this alert poster.

Sorry bout that. I didn't see that they have a hen with them. That is the heat source.

 

[NevadaSilk]

Thanks guys. They will be moving into a fully enclosed coop with a yard with wire over top and on all sides. I'll likely close them up in the actual coop at night for a while. This is, of course, if momma hen will let me do anything with them!