When do typically bring your Cornish cross outside?

[PlentifulPrairie]

My Cornish cross are three weeks old and have all their wing feathers and their body feathers are coming in. The night temp are in the 40s is that too cold for them to stay out overnight in a tractor?
**They are in my garage during the night currently**

 

[CNJ]

My Cornish cross are three weeks old and have all their wing feathers and their body feathers are coming in. The night temp are in the 40s is that too cold for them to stay out overnight in a tractor?
**They are in my garage during the night currently**

I took mine outside after a month, but I live on a tropical island, zone 11. Its starting to get hot where I live and my chickens are panting, I think they would prefer a cooler climate.

 

[iwltfum]

Mid to high 40's would not be a problem at all. Low 40's for an hour or two before sunrise, not a problem either. I say send them out. I have put broilers on pasture with temps still dropping into the high 30's and they were totally fine. Only exception to this would be if you have only 2 or 3 broilers, they might not have the numbers to huddle together to keep warm.

 

[PlentifulPrairie]

Mid to high 40's would not be a problem at all. Low 40's for an hour or two before sunrise, not a problem either. I say send them out. I have put broilers on pasture with temps still dropping into the high 30's and they were totally fine. Only exception to this would be if you have only 2 or 3 broilers, they might not have the numbers to huddle together to keep warm.

Okay I have 51. Do you tarp all around them? I have them basically in a rectangle box (they are comfortably spaced) covered by chicken wire on all sides (not the bottom obviously) and the top and a corregated metal sheet partially covering the top. I have one side partially tarping one side for windshielding.

 

[CascadeQUAIL]

My Cornish cross are three weeks old and have all their wing feathers and their body feathers are coming in. The night temp are in the 40s is that too cold for them to stay out overnight in a tractor?
**They are in my garage during the night currently**

This was a big learning curve for me.
They always look SO small when they go outside. I used to keep them in the brooder for 4+ weeks waiting for the temp to equalize outside.

Once they get feathered out they start to generate their own heat. If you give them a nice tractor or coop they will be fine at about 3 weeks, even 2 weeks if it's warm.

Don't spread them too thin, I start with them very tight, then spread them out to more tractors as they get bigger.

I've never lost one to chill or cold, and now that I just push aside my worries and put them outside their feed conversion is SO much better and they actually make weight on time.

 

[PlentifulPrairie]

This was a big learning curve for me.
They always look SO small when they go outside. I used to keep them in the brooder for 4+ weeks waiting for the temp to equalize outside.

Once they get feathered out they start to generate their own heat. If you give them a nice tractor or coop they will be fine at about 3 weeks, even 2 weeks if it's warm.

Don't spread them too thin, I start with them very tight, then spread them out to more tractors as they get bigger.

I've never lost one to chill or cold, and now that I just push aside my worries and put them outside their feed conversion is SO much better and they actually make weight on time.

This is what my gut was saying but like you are saying they just look SO SMALL! They seem fine I just would feel horrible if I killed them due to being too cold. But this is why I love BYC, such great advice and experience stories from many people. I've raised dual purpose heritage chickens but Cornish cross are very different in comparison, in my opinion anyway.

Thanks for responding.

 

[CascadeQUAIL]

I wanted to add that if you "baby" them and keep them on the lights they have been designed to only grow as many feathers as they need. If it's still chilly outside you have to be quite stingy with the heat. It's a huge shock to take them from a 90 degree brooder into near freezing temps.

Two weeks is not a lot of time to wean them off like heritage chicks, so you have to be "mean" there too and raise up / shut off the light as early as possible. I raise mine up a little each day and as soon as I see that they aren't using it 100% of the time I shut it off during the warm parts of the day.

Just watch for piling and turn it back on if they are spazzing out, they will let you know if they are cold. I don't mess with it at all for the first few days though, especially if they were shipped.

They will grow more feathers as a response and be that much warmer when they go outside.

If it IS warm already you can keep them on the light longer and they will grow much less feathers, making them that much easier to pluck. But summer birds have their own challenges.

 

[PlentifulPrairie]

I had them under a heat brooder plate for the first week on the high setting 24/7. The second week I put it in the low setting for half the week and then shut it off because none of them were interested in it and they all seemed fine. This week the third week, they are still off it and I think they'll be sleeping outside tonight. We're to get a rain storm tomorrow, so I'll be play that by ear, I don't want them to drown or get sick.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[iwltfum]

This is what my pens look like. Covered along one full edge and another half an edge with the roof panels. I've never found a reason to use tarps with this setup. Occasionally I've put a big piece of plywood along an open side if it's cool and windy on the day I put them out. Last year we raised 600 broilers and 20 ducks in these pens in Maine - zone 5- from mid-april until mid-october