Winter chicks once again....???

[craftymama86]

I know this has been asked SO many times before but I'm needing to know when our chicks can move into the coop outside? They are about 9 weeks old now. They're getting way too big for what we have them in, lol. HELP???

 

[froggiesheins]

At two months old OR when they are fully feathered out, they can go outside.

 

[chickee]

They should be old enough now if they are large fowl. In the winter I give mine a light (60 watt bulb in a heat lamp hung low) to keep warm until they are at least 14 weeks. Just keep an eye on them (go out and check after dark) to make sure they aren't acting cold.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[craftymama86]

Quote:
They're suppose to be BO's but I don't think they're full blooded, I think they're mix...

 

[CarolJ]

Mine went outside at 2 days old - with a heat lamp in the brooder pen. We'd just finished the new coop - and they had a brooder set up out there. As long as you provide a shelter free of drafts and with plenty of hay or shavings, they should be fine - especially at 9 weeks of age. When my older chicks were 7 weeks old, they went out with no heat lamp. They're all doing great - even though we've had a few days below freezing. It really depends on your set-up, though.

 

[chickee]

Quote:
They're suppose to be BO's but I don't think they're full blooded, I think they're mix...

If they are part BO then they should be nice and fluffy and weather the cold well

I don't take chances with my chicks and provide them with a heat source to go to when it is cold for the first few months

 

[craftymama86]

I was thinking the same thing as we have 4 BO hens to kind of compare to, not to mention what I've learned by reading about them, lol. They're in our sun room right now so they haven't been completely spoiled by being inside. I may go ahead and take them outside tomorrow, during the day and see how they do and then slowly go from there.

Thanks all!

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

As long as where you are moving them has enough heat for their age, it doesn't matter whether they are inside or outside.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
X2
At 9 weeks, they're long overdue.
Regardless of the date, mine are in an outbuilding from the time they come out of the incubator, arrive in the mail or hatch under the broody.
Without a broody, it's essential to have electric in your building but that could be done with an extension cord.
I can't understand how so many people raise chicks in the house. I couldn't deal with the dust, not to mention my wife would kill me.
If you watch chicks with a broody, they don't spend a great deal of time under her even in the cold.
To mimic that, my brooders are open to the chill of the unheated building with a very warm spot or two underneath. They tend to hang around the edge. The sooner they have an opportunity to wean themselves from the heat, the faster they feather and can take the cold.
I've had chicks on more than one occasion escape into the woods and spend the night alone as cold as 40 degrees and as early as 10 days old only to return in the morning looking for food.

 

[sierradane]

I had to reply on this thread, even though it won't help the original poster. But my Silver Sebright chicken Willie was a year old this past May (2011) and she still sleeps in my mom's house. She is in an outdoor pen during the day (with shelter). She lays her egg in her box, in my mom's house.