When To Boot Em Out? Feathers, Age, or What?

[The Wolf Queen]

Hi this is my 2nd year raising chicks and I was wondering what is a good age to move my chicks outside of my indoor porch and their sacred heat light. Or do I kick them out depending on feather development?

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Anybody???

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

I'm rather new to taking care of chicks too and have asked a question myself?

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Can ANYONE help us? Hey cochinbantam-lover, im gonna go out on a limb and guess you like cochin banties?

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Quote:
They are my fav, that's all I have!

Just kinda worried about a couple of my babies!

 

[The Wolf Queen]

What colors!?!?! and what are you worried about?

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Quote:
white, black, red frizzles and Barred and Partridge Cochins

Well a couple of them don't seem as active eating and drinking as the others. I dipped all their beaks in Quik Chik water.

 

[citrusdreams]

Figure it like this: when they hatch the temperature in the brooder should be 90-100 degrees, and you lower the temperature by 5 degrees every week. That's the guideline. I don't always follow the guidelines though...

Most chicks are fully feathered in six weeks.

That said, I kicked out my chicks with no heat lamp at 2 weeks of age. I put them in my henhouse, which is usually about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temp. They were there in a dog crate for about a week before I put them outside (with their crate covered to protect from rain, wind or too much sun, and with the door open so they were free to come and go) in a grassed pen. Their dog crate has 3 inches of pine chavings in it and some thin branches through the wires of the cage for roosts.

There are 26 of them and they seem to be doing really well. It's been getting kind of chilly at night, but they seem to be keeping warm by huddling together. They have bedding in their dog crate, but they choose to be outside in a pile in a corner of the pen.

The daytime temps are 70-80, and the nighttime temps have ranged from 50-60s....one day last week it was in the 40s. They're really enjoying being outside though, so I'm not worried.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

You have red frizzles and normal partridges??? LUCKY!!!

Ive been looking for normal feathered reds since LAST YEAR

LOL. About the sluggish ones try mixing hot water with KARO syrup. Either kind works. Its an old fashion recipe my grandparents used when they had around 200 birds at a time and it works really well and is probably cheaper than all that fancy stuff. ALSO ALSO lol I prefer the dark kind because in my opinion its like straight black coffee compared to a cappachino or something, in other words way stronger.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Quote:
Oh I know I am very lucky and so happy with the little darlings. they are the cutest things!

I don't think I have the dark, would the light be ok and how much of the syrup and how much water?
Thanks!