when to move outdoors

[e72071]

Here are mine at 3 days.....their brooder pen was out in the run and it was 25 degrees. I think it depends a lot on your setup and how early you begin to acclimate them. Chicks who have had continuous heat (and light 24/7) will absolutely need a chance to get used to colder temperatures and natural day/night cycles, and that always needs to be taken very seriously. I have now raised 6 batches of chicks outside in the run with just a heating pad cave, in full view of the adults, and even just a day or so out of the incubator. I can honestly say I will never ever brood chicks any other way. Never lost one, never had one get sick, and never had an adult injure one. But again, for chicks not raised this way from the get-go, acclimation is a must! [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Just a few days old, and nighttime temps in the teens and twenties, with some snowstorms tossed in for good measure. They know when they should stop exploring and go get warmed up, just as they do with a broody hen. This is a batch of chicks from last year. Same chicks out with the adults in the yard at only 4 weeks old. We had total integration by then,and notice how fully feathered and robust they are in size. By then it was warming up outside - spring in Northern Wyoming was finally arriving and our nighttime temps were hovering in the upper 30s, low 40s. This is a batch of this year's chicks. In the video you'll notice I refer to one little White Orpington chick who "almost died." That little stinker found the tiniest gap (immediately repaired, by the way) and was found lifeless behind the feeder in the main run hours later. I thought sure she was dead...she certainly seemed to be. Her eyes were closed, her legs and neck stretched out,and she was stiff and ice cold.The adults never bothered her little body. Once I thought I detected a bit of life I snatched her up, ran in the house with her, and stuck her in the incubator with some eggs due to hatch later in the week. She revived, survived, and was back out in the run with the others the very next day. She is a beautiful, big Orpington who is now beginning to be one of my best layers. We named her Phoenix. Just goes to show you that ya never know. I've read stories on here over and over again about chicks who have done the exact same thing, even kept in a brooder indoors under a heat lamp. It just depends on what they have been acclimated to, and how strong they are.

I've seen many of your posts and you are very in tune with raising chickens. I have 8 & 9 week old chicks that are mostly feathered (1 or 2 may still be feathering). Temps are still hovering around high twenties, low thirties at night. I plan on exposing them to the outdoors today and our other 4 girls. Do you think it's safe to move them outside? I truly can't take the smell anymore and they are just growing so much they need their space.

 

[Blooie]

Are they still using a heat source when they are in the house? If so, you need to get them off that first. I wouldn't just evict them at this point. They are too dependent on the heat (if they are still using it) to just put them out, although I did just that with my first set of chicks when they were 5.5 weeks old and they suffered no ill effects. Hey, it was them or me!

Integrating when they are so big will be your main problem, I think. Feathered, they can warm themselves and each other pretty well. But integration when they are close to adult size comes with it's own set of issues. But until you start letting them outside regularly and for extended periods, they will never get used to it out there, so I guess I'd just take a deep breath and dive in. Not the advice most folks would give, but that's mine. You can put a "huddle box" out there....it's just a cardboard box placed open side down, with fresh bedding in it and a chick sized hole cut into the side. You may have to encourage them to use it by kinda stuffing them under it a few times, but they can escape adults and huddle to keep warm in it if you opt to just put them out now.

I am the last person to be able to help with integrating older chicks with adults.

Frankly, I've never done it. I've read about how to do it...but I've never done it. I brood outdoors in a pen around the adults from the start, and use @azygous portal system to let them mingle, so I've never had an issue. Adults don't seem to see little chicks as a threat to the flock dynamic so they accept them pretty quickly, especially if they see them and are around them constantly. Having places to escape any unwanted attention is crucial. I use the portal door system that @azygous introduced - small doors in the brooder pen that can be opened and closed. I also have a huge hollow log on the opposite side of the run. It's cut in half with the hollow side down and they duck under there if they think they are too far from the brooder to get back in. Like the doors, the adults don't fit to "get 'em" so chicks feel totally safe. Multiple feed and water stations help tremendously.

I hope someone with more experience integrating older chicks will chime in here because I'm wingin' it! Good luck!

 

[e72071]

Are they still using a heat source when they are in the house?  If so, you need to get them off that first. I wouldn't just evict them at this point.  They are too dependent on the heat (if they are still using it) to just put them out, although I did just that with my first set of chicks when they were 5.5 weeks old and they suffered no ill effects. Hey, it was them or me!    Integrating when they are so big will be your main problem, I think.  Feathered, they can warm themselves and each other pretty well.  But integration when they are close to adult size comes with it's own set of issues.   But until you start letting them outside regularly and for extended periods, they will never get used to it out there, so I guess I'd just take a deep breath and dive in.  Not the advice most folks would give, but that's mine. You can put a "huddle box" out there....it's just a cardboard box placed open side down, with fresh bedding in it and a chick sized hole cut into the side.  You may have to encourage them to use it by kinda stuffing them under it a few times, but they can escape adults and huddle to keep warm in it if you opt to just put them out now.

I am the last person to be able to help with integrating older chicks with adults.     Frankly, I've never done it. I've read about how to do it...but I've never done it.  I brood outdoors in a pen around the adults from the start, and use @azygous
 portal system to let them mingle, so I've never had an issue.  Adults don't seem to see little chicks as a threat to the flock dynamic so they accept them pretty quickly, especially if they see them and are around them constantly.  Having places to escape any unwanted attention is crucial.  I use the portal door system that @azygous
 introduced - small doors in the brooder pen that can be opened and closed.  I also have a huge hollow log on the opposite side of the run.  It's cut in half with the hollow side down and they duck under there if they think they are too far from the brooder to get back in.  Like the doors, the adults don't fit  to "get 'em" so chicks feel totally safe. Multiple feed and water stations help tremendously.

I hope someone with more experience integrating older chicks will chime in here because I'm wingin' it!  Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. They have been off their heat source for almost a month now so they are not dependent on that any longer. My husband is finishing up the new coop today so I think we will waist 1 more week (sigh) then let them out. I figure if we bring them out early enough in the day and we watch them most of the day, we will know how integration goes. I definitely think next time we will be brooding outdoors. Lol

 

[Blooie]

If they are off the heat, that's a huge part of the process done and you can just focus on getting them out among the adults. Can I ask what the difference is between starting now and starting in another week? Is it just the completion of the new coop? If so, this would be the perfect time to put in an enclosure for them. In a week they're just going to be a week older and bigger.

Doesn't have to be huge - they are going to huddle together like it's the end of the world no matter how much room is in there! Just a frame or a fenced off corner with chicken wire would do just fine. I've seen little A-frame tents made from the chicken wire to hold them in...I use a wire dog exercise pen because I had one on hand Have one side so you can "open" it just big enough for the chicks so they can escape to it if they want to. Let them out supervised. If you have a problem adult who seems to need to peck at them all the time, take the place of mom and give her a tap on the back of the head like she would do if her chicks were being bothered. You don't have to whack, just tap. She should get the message that she can't mess with them. Some pecking is normal - you just have to decide when it's getting out of hand. The chicks need to learn their place, and the adults are pretty good teachers.

Do a search in the search box for "integrating older chicks" and a lot of helpful posts will come up. Sort through them and pick the parts you think will work for you. As I said, I have no experience with integrating older chicks (and anyone who says 2 weeks in age doesn't make a difference has never raised chickens!

It can make a huge difference)

 

[e72071]

Yes it's all about the coop being finished. We only have 4 adult hens that we started with 3 years ago so the coop is only big enough for them. We now have 20 birds we have to integrate so a much larger coop is needed. Talk about 1 extreme to another. Lol. I really wanted to get them out this weekend but the weather yesterday didn't cooperate to finish the coop. I may still bring them out today if it gets done in time. Im really mainly concerned about having a secure area for them all the sleep.

I will definitely search the forums for integration.

 

[nksabc]

I put my first batch of chicks outside when they were 5.5 weeks old. Our daytime highs were in the 40s, then it dropped! The third night they were out there it snowed. Yep, snowed. I don't use insulation and I don't use supplemental heat. In fact, when they went out there the coop wasn't even finished, Oh, the first night I put a heat lamp out there, and the temperature kept dropping. When I'd go out to check on them (and I'm embarrassed to tell you how often that was) they weren't anywhere near the heat - they were snuggled down together next to the pop door. Next night, same story. So the third night I took the light completely out - and that night it snowed. That's springtime in the mountains of Wyoming! They did just fine.

Now I raise my chicks outdoors in the run from the start using a heating pad cave, even with temps in the teens and twenties, sideways blowing snow and 60 mph winds. They are tougher than we think and you are on the right track turning the light off, although you may want to extend the time for a few days and then turn it off. They need to be off that heat, not just because they don't need it, but because they are creatures of habit and the longer they have something the harder it is - on them and on - when you have tp to remove it.. You might be further ahead to put them in the coop and leave them in there for a few days, perhaps as long as a week, with no light. They'll hate you for a few days, but they'll get over it. They'll snuggle down in the dark and go to sleep, and after that few days (maybe as long as week) they'll know that the coop is home. If you still have difficulty, you could try putting a very dim light in the coop at night - often when the run starts to get dark they'll head for the light. But eventually they'll have to learn that they sleep and lay in the coop, and that sundown means bedtime and sunrise means up-'n-at-em.

Welcome to BYC!

This explanation of your experience was the perfect help for me to make a confident decision for my small flock today. Thank you.

 

[e72071]

We put all our chicks out forvhood yesterday but I think our 3 older girls are stressed out. They cower together in corners and last night they all slept in the same nesting box. They weren't drinking or eating so we put a little extra water out for them in a different area. I think they are overwhelmed by the other birds and they won't go near the good and water because the others are always there.

Any suggestions on helping them settle in?