When to take chicks off heat

[margot53]

Hi I have 4 bantam chicks who are no 5 ish weeks old. I am wondering when should I take them off heat? They are fully feathered. A little downy but not much.
one of them had been unwell and has a bare bottom. I treated them all with coxoid as the vet recommended and wow they all looked a lot better and the one with a runny bottom seems a million times better no more bathes and stools look good as well.
I t is dropping to about 3 degrees here at night still so I don't want to rush them out as regular cleaning means no nasty pongs.

They are so sweet and love a roam about the kitchen running toward the parrot cage to see if she has dropped any seed out ( which I make sure is gone before they come out).
Thanks in advance x

 

[sumi]

At this stage I would limit their heat to night times only, when it's still cold and after another week I'd remove the night heat as well, in preparation for moving them outside to the coop. You should move them outside during the day for short periods to help them acclimatise as well. Just keep an eye on their behaviour. If they huddle together it means they are too cold and should go back inside for a bit. If they run around happily, leave them be until they start complaining

 

[margot53]

Thanks I was going to put them out now it has been lovely so far to day and all of a sudden it has started to snow.
I am wondering will bantams be able to live with large foul when the bantams are fully grown or would they be better on their own. Thanks

 

[sumi]

I've got a tiny bantam here with a number of LF cockerels and hens and she's doing fine. She's actually quite high up on the rung, if not "head hen" in the flock. Introduce them slowly to the rest of the flock and see how it goes, but I think they'll be fine. Just watch out for large cockerels and small hens, if your banties are much smaller that the cockerels, they might get hurt.