When to Keep Chicks Outside

[Momtofive86]

Well I did not realize how difficult it was to get a decent photo of my girls but here they are. Hopefully this will tell whether or not they are feathering well!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Aww, they are adorable!

Their feathers are still coming in, but it seems like it’s warm enough where you are regardless. Good luck!

 

[Momtofive86]

My latest little batch (bought for a 2 weeks broody hen that became unbroody the day after I got chicks, of course) was brooded in a dog crate in the garage with a seedling mat heat cave and I put them out 3 weeks ago at 4 weeks old. Some feathers but not completely by any means. I'm in Northern CO and we're just now feeling like summer...cool and wet June. Mine have done great. I made sure they had draft-free place to "roost" and now week 3 of being out 24/7 (free range large back yard and small coop while I build my big one) they've been roosting with the rest of the crew.

Thank you! That helps. I just got back from CO a couple weeks ago. Summer was just beginning to peek it’s head out!

 

[Momtofive86]

Aww, they are adorable!

Their feathers are still coming in, but it seems like it’s warm enough where you are regardless. Good luck!

Well at four weeks I will give it a try. Just a couple more days!

 

[Timothy Menezes]

Your house is 77 degrees at night! I would not be able to sleep in that lol. Your birds certainly do not need the lamp anymore. While they are feathered enough to move out, it couldn’t hurt to leave them in the house for a few nights without the lamp so it’s a more gradual transition.

 

[Momtofive86]

Your house is 77 degrees at night! I would not be able to sleep in that lol. Your birds certainly do not need the lamp anymore. While they are feathered enough to move out, it couldn’t hurt to leave them in the house for a few nights without the lamp so it’s a more gradual transition.

Yeah it's 77 but with ceiling fans it's comfortable! We normally use air conditioning and keep it cooler but I did not want these littles to get chilled at all. That's what I started last night, turning off the heat lamp. I will probably make the move Sunday to them being outside all night. Just making sure the run and coop are absolutely safe for them.

 

[Blooie]

They certainly look ready, in my opinion, and cute, too! If your coop and run are as predator-proof as you can make it, why not? I start chicks outdoors from the very beginning out in a wire brooder pen in the run. Our temps are still in the teens and twenties, with sideways blowing snow, but they have Mama Heating Pad and totally thrive. By the end of 3 weeks they are spending all day with the adults and only locked into the brooder at night, and by 4 weeks they have weaned themselves off all heat completely, are fully integrated with the flock, and the brooder pen is completely removed. I’ve been doing it this way for several years, with never an issue. They never see any kind of artificial light.

My first batch was a different story. I read the books and listened to the wrong experts. They were in a large box in the spare room which serves as hubby’s office. They had the heat lamp, and by the time they were 5.5 weeks old they had to GO! The noise, the dust, the constant fighting to keep the food and water clean.....they had to GO!!! So I turned off the light for a couple of days (ever heard 22 chicks throw a chickie temper tantrum?) and then I evicted them completely - banned them to the almost-finished chicken coop. Oh, I put the heat lamp out there for them, and that first night I watched the thermometer drop....25, 22, 20, 18.....all night long I was jumping out of bed and into my jammies to check them. They were fine. They were huddled together in a pile of beaks and feathers right in front of the pop door, nowhere near the heat lamp. The next morning they were up and raring to go. I, on the other hand, was dragging. Second night, same story, except I only got up to check them once. The third day I took the heat lamp out. If they weren’t going to use it then I wasn’t risking a fire and paying for the electricity. That night it snowed. I had evicted them on April 1st. We didn’t get our last snowfall that year until June 6th. This year we were still getting snow here in parts of Wyoming on June 22!

I guess it was after going through all of that I realized that I’d been listening to the wrong experts. I should have been learning from the real experts, the broody hens. Now that I raise them exactly as a broody hen does, I’m less stressed, they’re happier, and everything is so much easier. I think sometimes we focus on raising little divas, and when the time comes for them to be chickens they freak out a little, and we have a hard time letting go.

Expect huddling behavior the first nights. It doesn’t always mean that they are cold - it’s usually a security thing for them. Put your feet up, pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and have a glass of wine while they sort things out. They will.

 

[Momtofive86]

They certainly look ready, in my opinion, and cute, too! If your coop and run are as predator-proof as you can make it, why not? I start chicks outdoors from the very beginning out in a wire brooder pen in the run. Our temps are still in the teens and twenties, with sideways blowing snow, but they have Mama Heating Pad and totally thrive. By the end of 3 weeks they are spending all day with the adults and only locked into the brooder at night, and by 4 weeks they have weaned themselves off all heat completely, are fully integrated with the flock, and the brooder pen is completely removed. I’ve been doing it this way for several years, with never an issue. They never see any kind of artificial light.

My first batch was a different story. I read the books and listened to the wrong experts. They were in a large box in the spare room which serves as hubby’s office. They had the heat lamp, and by the time they were 5.5 weeks old they had to GO! The noise, the dust, the constant fighting to keep the food and water clean.....they had to GO!!! So I turned off the light for a couple of days (ever heard 22 chicks throw a chickie temper tantrum?) and then I evicted them completely - banned them to the almost-finished chicken coop. Oh, I put the heat lamp out there for them, and that first night I watched the thermometer drop....25, 22, 20, 18.....all night long I was jumping out of bed and into my jammies to check them. They were fine. They were huddled together in a pile of beaks and feathers right in front of the pop door, nowhere near the heat lamp. The next morning they were up and raring to go. I, on the other hand, was dragging. Second night, same story, except I only got up to check them once. The third day I took the heat lamp out. If they weren’t going to use it then I wasn’t risking a fire and paying for the electricity. That night it snowed. I had evicted them on April 1st. We didn’t get our last snowfall that year until June 6th. This year we were still getting snow here in parts of Wyoming on June 22!

I guess it was after going through all of that I realized that I’d been listening to the wrong experts. I should have been learning from the real experts, the broody hens. Now that I raise them exactly as a broody hen does, I’m less stressed, they’re happier, and everything is so much easier. I think sometimes we focus on raising little divas, and when the time comes for them to be chickens they freak out a little, and we have a hard time letting go.

Expect huddling behavior the first nights. It doesn’t always mean that they are cold - it’s usually a security thing for them. Put your feet up, pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and have a glass of wine while they sort things out. They will.

Wonderful information! Thanks for your lengthy and informative post! These girls will be out by the weekend!

 

[Blooie]

Yeah, I’m kinda wordy sometimes....