When to move chicks outside?

[casschumama]

Hi all! I live in Central Kansas, and my chicks are 4.5 weeks old. I am wondering when would be okay to move them out to their coop/run? Pictures of my feathered babies & the weather for the foreseeable future. We have EEs, silkie crosses, & cuckoo marans.

 

[JaeG]

They should be fully feathered which is around 6 weeks old, unless you can give them supplementary heat in their coop, in which case you can put them out earlier.

 

[casschumama]

They should be fully feathered which is around 6 weeks old, unless you can give them supplementary heat in their coop, in which case you can put them out earlier.

Do they look fully feathered? New chick mom over here and have no idea if they are or not. Haha

 

[JaeG]

Do they look fully feathered? New chick mom over here and have no idea if they are or not. Haha

Their heads still need to feather in. Hope you are enjoying them, though I know they get a bit messy at this age.

If they are sheltered from the wind and its reasonably warm outside you could put them out for a few hours each day to build up their tolerance to the cooler temperatures. Just keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't getting too cold. They will do a sad, loud chirp constantly if they feel chilly. Leave them out for longer if they seem happy.

But to move out permanently you'll have to wait for their heads to grow proper feathers. Once they are completely feathered they then have enough insulation to keep themselves warm.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, I move mine out about 3 weeks. I am finding that they are much sturdier than I at first thought. The real question is, what are you moving them into? If is a good coop, where they can get out of the wind, they will keep themselves warm.

I would suggest deep bedding, so that they can snuggle down into a pile at night.

I do agree with the idea of putting them outside for an hour or so, then a warm up, then a little longer, then a warm up.

I do have my brooder set up so that there is a much warmer area and a much colder area, where I keep the food and water, so that they move from one to the other. This encourages feathering earlier.

At those temperatures, I would put them out and keep an eye on them, but no need to wait another two weeks. If the temperatures were below freezing in the daytime, I would hesitate, but not with those expected temperatures. I would not worry about it.

Keep an eye on them, chicks scurrying around, exploring, jumping up on things looking like kids at recess are doing fine. Broody hens let their chicks run around in real cold temperature, but have a spot to warm up too. A good wind break will be that.

Mrs K

Ps. High pitched peeping is a sign that they are too cold. Silent chicks are warm chicks...trick is, often times when they get excited and run all over, they peep then too.

 

[casschumama]

Well, I move mine out about 3 weeks. I am finding that they are much sturdier than I at first thought. The real question is, what are you moving them into? If is a good coop, where they can get out of the wind, they will keep themselves warm.

I would suggest deep bedding, so that they can snuggle down into a pile at night.

I do agree with the idea of putting them outside for an hour or so, then a warm up, then a little longer, then a warm up.

I do have my brooder set up so that there is a much warmer area and a much colder area, where I keep the food and water, so that they move from one to the other. This encourages feathering earlier.

At those temperatures, I would put them out and keep an eye on them, but no need to wait another two weeks. If the temperatures were below freezing in the daytime, I would hesitate, but not with those expected temperatures. I would not worry about it.

Keep an eye on them, chicks scurrying around, exploring, jumping up on things looking like kids at recess are doing fine. Broody hens let their chicks run around in real cold temperature, but have a spot to warm up too. A good wind break will be that.

Mrs K

We are repurposing an old dog house my dad built for their coop and pine shavings and straw on the floor of it. It is elevated about a foot off the ground! There are no drafts in it, but does have ventilation at the top on the sides, but not where their roosting pole is. We live in city limits and rent, so no extravagant set up, but it works for what it is!

 

[icy_flames]

I waited 8 weeks for my flock. Hatched end of August last year and they went outside right after Halloween. No issues at all. They were ready to go. At about 5 weeks old we did mini field trips of taking them from the brooder into backyard enclosure for a couple hours a day. They loved getting some sunshine and pecking around in the leaves + dirt. The first thing my Dominique Daisy did was dust bathe. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I would wait a little bit longer. Spring is around the corner

 

[casschumama]

I waited 8 weeks for my flock. Hatched end of August last year and they went outside right after Halloween. No issues at all. They were ready to go. At about 5 weeks old we did mini field trips of taking them from the brooder into backyard enclosure for a couple hours a day. They loved getting some sunshine and pecking around in the leaves + dirt. The first thing my Dominique Daisy did was dust bathe. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I would wait a little bit longer. Spring is around the corner

I fear my chicks may outgrow their space before spring spring weather! We are getting 2 more chicks (TS chick days), but need to give the older girls the boot before we do so . They are in a 55gal terrarium currently.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Are they already fully weaned off heat where the brooder is? If so, what's the temperature at that location?

At 4.5 weeks with those temperatures, mine would be outside and just about ready/just gotten booted off heat.

 

[casschumama]

They are in our living room with a brinsea heating plate on the tallest setting. We keep our house at 65-67 degrees and they have started to snuggle together away from the heating plate and dig a hole in their pine shavings to sleep.