When to move our chicks outside? (Colorado)

[zachatharsis]

Ok, so I know this is asked a lot and I've looked through several posts on here to get a good idea, but am still just not sure so forgive me for asking again, we are beginers and these are our babies.

We live in Colorado Springs, CO and the temp has been fluxing anywhere between 20-60 lately with temps at night dipping down to the low 20's or so. We have 5 baby chicks, all different breeds, that are about 7 weeks old (some are 7 some will be 7 in two days) and all appear pretty close to fully feathered.

When are we safe to put them out in their coop? We bought this coop from a good respectable friend so I'm sure it's been successful in this area for others, but I don't feel comfortable putting a heat lamp anywhere in it. Seems like a huge fire hazard. I plan on building a larger coop in the near future that would accommodate a heat lamp and such, but that's going to be awhile.

Any thoughts would be great! Thanks.

 

[ericmcginn5]

when rassing baby chicks the first week should be 95 degrees take it down 5 every week intell reach 6 weeks if you can keep your chicks warm enof then go for it but if you cant i would not take the chance if you do put them outdoor less wind is a lot better

 

[zachatharsis]

So I put a digital thermometer in the coop to check the temp at night. The other night the outside temp got down to about 27 but inside got down to 32. I'll check later today to see what it says but I'm thinking that gives me roughly a 5 degree different which would go up when the chicks are actually in there. So then my follow up question is what temp is too low for them at this stage in their life? I've seen many places that 32 is plenty fine for them but knowning Colorado weather, it can and probably will dip into the teens or low 20s again before we officially get to summer.

Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cosbackyard]

The next few nights are supposed to be closer to 40. I moved my 4 week old ducks out to the shed last night, but with a heat lamp since they're still so young. I'm curious to see what people suggest, since I'll be looking to move the chicks outside in the next few weeks.

 

[kynewbchickie]

I'm in Kentucky and we're planning to move our babies outdoors in a couple of weeks - they'll be 5 weeks old this coming Monday. Even though our daytime temps are expected to get into the mid-upper 70s and some low 80s the next couple of weeks, this IS Kentucky and it LOVES to make liars out of our forecasters.

Good luck with your little ones!

 

[CarolinaMama]

Hi there - we are in NC and our daytime temps right now are anywhere from 65 to 80, with lows from 40 to 50s. We moved our 8 week old chicks outside last week into a coop almost identical to yours! We actually do have a heat lamp in there, clamped to one of the wooden supports. My husband is a firefighter and he made sure nothing but the clamp is touching anything and the cord is inaccessible to the chicks, and he feels good about it. We had a t-storm with wind this week and I covered the windows to cut down on drafts for them. They seem very happy and are busy in the mornings underneath, even with the chill.

 

[annav410]

We are in Colorado and we just moved out our 6.5 week chicks to the coop last night. They are fully feathered out and did just great! We checked on them a couple times last night and they were all huddled up together. I think your chicks will be fine at 7 weeks. We are keeping an eye on the temps to try and determine if we need to add any heat with the next storm coming Tuesday. This has been a cold and snowy spring in Colorado for sure which has made this decision that much harder!

I read that for the most part chickens do better in cold weather and struggle more in heat.

Anna

 

[Alaskan]

The big thing is that the coop is small, which is good, since their body heat will warm it quickly. Deep bedding that they can snuggle in, and I think that they would be great......

Except.....

Is that a metal roof? That seems so very cold, if I had that set up, I would put them out anyway, even in your current conditions, but I would put a thick quilt in a garbage bag (or two duct taped together) and put that over the roof at night time.

Just me 2 cents

 

[Chicken Happy]

Our weather has been the same as yours....grrrrrr. Planned on moving 6 of mine out today, but the overnight temp may hit 20....and I would not be shocked if there was snow. Sorry, I am grumbling. Deep bedding and I agree about putting a tarp, quilt, trash bags on the metal roofing. Is it insulated on the inside (plywood or?) or is it just the tin?

 

[cosbackyard]

Mine are also outside now here in CO. Last night was the first for my six week old ducks and chicks. No problems. But, like Annav, I'm also considering a heat lamp for the coming storm which will drop temps to around 20.