When to move chicks outside

[Ryan81986]

I'm sure this has been asked 1000 times before, and I know the general answer so I'll give you my situation.

We should be getting our baby chicks the first week of April. We were hoping to take a vacation around the end of May/Beginning of June. Our next door neighbor has had chickens for a long time and offered to take care of them while we are away. The coop is built and is ready to go for when they are, I was just wondering if the time frame for them being ready to go outside would work with when we are looking to go away. And if not, would it be extremely stressful to transfer the birds to a brooder setup that he has in one of his sheds?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I'm sure this has been asked 1000 times before, and I know the general answer so I'll give you my situation.

We should be getting our baby chicks the first week of April. We were hoping to take a vacation around the end of May/Beginning of June. Our next door neighbor has had chickens for a long time and offered to take care of them while we are away. The coop is built and is ready to go for when they are, I was just wondering if the time frame for them being ready to go outside would work with when we are looking to go away. And if not, would it be extremely stressful to transfer the birds to a brooder setup that he has in one of his sheds?

So, your birds will be 7+ weeks of age when you vacation and that vacation will be around the first of June, correct? Where are you located? What breed(s) are you planning to raise? Is the coop wired for electric or not? For most breeds, I would not hesitate to move 7+ week old birds into a coop. I moved our most recent flock out at 5 weeks - our coop is unheated/unwired - within a week of moving out we had a cold snap complete with snow storm and they were hail and hearty in their coop. As long as they are feathered out, they can keep themselves warm - especially with others to snuggle up with - it's the baby fuzz and/or the more fragile breeds of birds or birds that will only have a couple of pals that I would give a second thought to moving in a temperate climate in June at 7+ weeks old.

 

[azygous]

The chicks will be seven to eight weeks of age when you leave on vacation, but is June summer or winter where you live? That makes a big difference.

Let's assume it's going to be summery and they're two months old. They should be perfectly all right. However, you also do not say if they will be the only chickens in the coop and run. If they have adults to cope with, then it's not wise to put them out and then leave on vacation. They would require considerable supervision.

So, barring any adult chickens and it isn't winter where you are, they should be fine going out at 7 to 8 weeks.

 

[Ryan81986]

I'm in Massachusetts so the low-high range in May is about 48-68, given that it will be towards the end of the month it will probably be closer to 55-70. There are no other birds that they will have to deal with.

 

[azygous]

Will they be cooped up while your neighbors are caring for them? If so, you shouldn't worry at all. They'll be just fine as long as they are fully feathered by then.