How to safely transition chicks to unheated area?

[tviss711]

Should I move them from the house to an unheated area and then the coop, or straight to the coop? I don't want to shock them going from a heated 68 degree house. This is our 10 day weather report:

View attachment 4086503

If they are already off supplemental heat, then they should be fine to transition outside. They look nicely feathered out, those outer feathers do a really good job of keeping their body heat close to them (I'm sure you can feel how warm they are when you hold them!) They also have each other, and will sleep in a big cuddle puddle in the coop.

IF they are still on supplemental heat in the brooder, I would give them a day or two without it to adjust before sticking them outside. Those were about the same temps when I stuck my 5 week old chicks outside, in the rain, and they did just fine.

Just my two cents, some people are very adamant on not letting the chicks sleep in the nesting boxes when you transition them. I don't actually care, and haven't had a problem with someone continuing to sleep in the nest boxes after a certain period of time. That doesn't mean it can't happen, and some others experience may be different, but I have found with 3 batches of chicks now that they will snuggle together in a nesting box when they get cold for a few weeks after going outside, and then they simply move the roost bar when they are ready. I've not had to train them to do this, they just kind of figure it out on their own. I think their instincts tell them when its time to start "looking up" to roost, rather than hunkering down and snuggling together, if that makes sense. Of course do what you want and what feels right for your birdies. I only share that because with my first batch of birds, I stressed so much trying to prevent their access to the nesting boxes with cardboard/boards and they kept breaking through it to sleep in there anyway, it was stressful and I felt like they would never learn to sleep on the roost if I didn't keep physically moving them every night. After that, I just gave up, and they ended up figuring it out all on their own! Occasionally I would have a hen or two sleeping in the nesting boxes, but only when they seemed to be feeling unwell or were molting, once they were back to normal they were up and roosting. Like I said, just my two cents!

 

[Raubkatze]

If they are already off supplemental heat, then they should be fine to transition outside. They look nicely feathered out, those outer feathers do a really good job of keeping their body heat close to them (I'm sure you can feel how warm they are when you hold them!) They also have each other, and will sleep in a big cuddle puddle in the coop.

IF they are still on supplemental heat in the brooder, I would give them a day or two without it to adjust before sticking them outside. Those were about the same temps when I stuck my 5 week old chicks outside, in the rain, and they did just fine.

Just my two cents, some people are very adamant on not letting the chicks sleep in the nesting boxes when you transition them. I don't actually care, and haven't had a problem with someone continuing to sleep in the nest boxes after a certain period of time. That doesn't mean it can't happen, and some others experience may be different, but I have found with 3 batches of chicks now that they will snuggle together in a nesting box when they get cold for a few weeks after going outside, and then they simply move the roost bar when they are ready. I've not had to train them to do this, they just kind of figure it out on their own. I think their instincts tell them when its time to start "looking up" to roost, rather than hunkering down and snuggling together, if that makes sense. Of course do what you want and what feels right for your birdies. I only share that because with my first batch of birds, I stressed so much trying to prevent their access to the nesting boxes with cardboard/boards and they kept breaking through it to sleep in there anyway, it was stressful and I felt like they would never learn to sleep on the roost if I didn't keep physically moving them every night. After that, I just gave up, and they ended up figuring it out all on their own! Occasionally I would have a hen or two sleeping in the nesting boxes, but only when they seemed to be feeling unwell or were molting, once they were back to normal they were up and roosting. Like I said, just my two cents!

They have been off of heat for a while now. About two weeks I think. The barred rocks outgrew the maximum height of my brooder plate pretty quickly, and then I started to notice all of them sleeping on the opposite side of of the brooder from the plate at night anyway. The barred rocks are almost twice the size of my Australorps, but all of them have about the same amount of feather.

 

[500Chickens]

Should I move them from the house to an unheated area and then the coop, or straight to the coop? I don't want to shock them going from a heated 68 degree house. This is our 10 day weather report:

View attachment 4086503

i would say straight to the coop

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

They have been off of heat for a while now. About two weeks I think. The barred rocks outgrew the maximum height of my brooder plate pretty quickly, and then I started to notice all of them sleeping on the opposite side of of the brooder from the plate at night anyway. The barred rocks are almost twice the size of my Australorps, but all of them have about the same amount of feather.

I just made this transition myself and it has been surprisingly smooth. Also a first time chicken momma and was worried about the temps etc but they are doing great! They are so grateful for the space in the bigger coop (using it as a larger outside brooder until we finish they run (5 wk chicks)) and the cuddle puddle has worked perfectly for them with overnight temps between 40-50.
Good luck with the big move!