When to put outside?

[nxb161]

I can't believe how quickly the chicks have grown. I have 6 hens
2 of each, leghorn, amberlink, redsexlink

There is still lots of chances for cooler nights, even though it is 70s day and 50s nights this week.
This is my first time having chicks, so I wasn't sure what was considered "full feathered"

I've been backing off the heat lamp, almost ready to remove it all together.
Any thoughts?

 

[ArtGirl]

Once they have most of there feathers we get them used to being outside but if they are used to being by a heat lamp for the first night I would put them out during the day and then put them where they normally sleep at night

. After the first night they can sleep outside but I would check on them when it starts to get dark for the next 5 or so days to make sure that they go into there chicken house at night

.

 

[nxb161]

I've never had chickens before, so to me it looks like they have all their feathers, can you tell from the picture? I kept moving the heat lamp up, and just this afternoon I moved them to the garage and no lamp at all. I was planning on leaving them there until Sunday after church and then move them outside. I took Monday off since it is supposed to be nice (upper 60s) so I'll be able to watch them a little better.
Any thoughts?

 

[pasuit]

The Chick looks like it still has its down. It is too young to put outside. I have 3 chicks in brooder still under the light and they are about 10 days old. They have a few feathers on their wings but are still mostly down. If you will watch the wings closely you can tell when they start getting their feathers. I just got a response from another member telling me they need heat for at lease 8 weeks depending on the weather.

 

[nxb161]

They are 7-1/2 weeks old, some of them maybe older.




I just took a couple pics, Looks like the red one was moving while I took it

The weather has been nice here, actually 80s the other day, but still has plenty of time to go in the 40s before the season is over with.
If you all think that they need to stay in longer, than I don't mind doing that, but would like to get them out and about as soon as I can.
They just seem like they want more room to roam, they hop out of the tub as soon as I take the cover off. Actually one flew across the room when it got out this afternoon.

 

[Catfish267]

I was just about to ask this question myself. I live in the same area as you. Mine are 3 weeks old and to big for my current brooder. I am not sure what to do.

 

[nxb161]

I just wanted to add that by outside I mean coop & run. So they won't be wandering around and not be able to find their coop. The coop has a 5' low run attached to it, and then I built a 8' cube that is closed on the back side, halfway on the 2 adjacent sides, and covered on top. . The coop is small, but looks a lot smaller next to the oversized run I built, If I could do I again I wouldn't have made it 8' tall. I built it in sections in the garage, and it took 3 of us to get that back piece over. Live and learn I guess

The plan is to build a bigger coop this summer.



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[chelsey21211]

Ok so when you ask questions like this expect to get a variety of answers...In my case, I have 4 3 wk old bantams not fully featherex and 6 other bantams that are 5 wks and are almost fully feathered looking a lot like yours...they've been out in their coop all week now with a heat lamp and its been in the 30's at night. I Block their chickenn door off to keep them inn there. And I'm happy to say they are better thann ever loving all thhe extra room of their coop. so if u can provide them with a heat source and a draft free coop than id say they will be fine but if u can't tha they should stay indoors awhile longer...good luckkk!!

 

[nxb161]

Ok so when you ask questions like this expect to get a variety of answers...In my case, I have 4 3 wk old bantams not fully featherex and 6 other bantams that are 5 wks and are almost fully feathered looking a lot like yours...they've been out in their coop all week now with a heat lamp and its been in the 30's at night. I Block their chickenn door off to keep them inn there. And I'm happy to say they are better thann ever loving all thhe extra room of their coop. so if u can provide them with a heat source and a draft free coop than id say they will be fine but if u can't tha they should stay indoors awhile longer...good luckkk!!

Yeah, I understand there will be varying answers. I was hoping for a lot of responses so there will be some type of majority, if not you get initial posters, that knows what they want to do and just wait for one person to agree with them, and then they ignore the rest. I personally don't like the idea of a heat lamp in the coop and run. Too much of a risk in an enclosed area.
They did good for their first night in the garage and without heat. No squawking or extra peeping. It went down to 55 in the garage last night, so if it goes up to the 60s like it is supposed to, at that point I might let them play in the run this afternoon, then back in the garage tonight

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah you are going to get a lot of different answers. You’ll even get different answers from me depending on circumstances. Instead of telling you what to do, I’ll tell you some of the things I’ve done.

First of all, my brooder is in the coop. I agree you have to be real careful of fire danger, but that’s true in your house too. My brooder is fairly big, 3’ x 6’, and well ventilated. I keep one area warm and let the rest cool off as it will. That way they can find their own comfort zone. What happens is that they play all over that brooder and go back to the heat when they need to warm up. That way they get acclimated to the cooler temperatures, just like they do when a broody raises them.

In colder weather I’ve kept them in the brooder under heat day and night for 5 weeks, in really cold weather when it is below freezing maybe a few days longer. In the heat of summer I’ve turned the daytime heat off at 2 days and the overnight heat off at 5 days. That’s days, not weeks.

I’ve put 5 week olds in my grow-put coop when the overnight lows were in the mid 40’s Fahrenheit. Just a few days later, when they were 5-1/2 weeks old, the overnight low hit the mid 20’s. They were fine. My grow-out coop does not have any heat source but it does have real good draft protection. It’s also well ventilated up high.

I have regular full-sized breeds, not the Silkies or other ornamental breeds and not bantams. I don’t know if that makes a difference or not since I don’t have any experience with them.

We’ve all got unique circumstances, not just weather but different breeds, different coops, different risk tolerances, different experience levels. What works for me in November does not work for me in July. There is no one magic age that works for all of us regardless of conditions or circumstance.