When can my quail babies live outside?

[Masaj Mahrhad]

My quail chicks are now 10 days old and they’re growing fast. It’s summer time and it gets to lows of 62F. In my garage where they’re kept, it stays around 85F all night.

How much older must they be before I let them live outdoors?

 

[Nabiki]

I would wait until they're fully feathered. That's usually around 4-5 weeks.

 

[Whiskybear]

Do with this info what you will… with my Coturnix, I remove the heater from the brooder around 10 days in the house at a constant temp of about 70°F. But I start backing off from the 95-100° in the hotspot around day 4.

 

[Kiki]

I would put them out today... With no added heat.

 

[jargon777]

With those temps I would put them outside, but just monitor for the first few days/evenings. Around 2 weeks my chicks have always handled outdoors fine so long as overnights are above 16C (60f) or so. I know some say to wait longer but I have found it unecesarry. Usually I have them off the heat after 7-9 days, couple of days inside (70f) with no heat, then have them outside. If they're not huddling and looking cold in the evening then I usually let them go overnight.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

My quail chicks are now 10 days old and they’re growing fast. It’s summer time and it gets to lows of 62F. In my garage where they’re kept, it stays around 85F all night.

How much older must they be before I let them live outdoors?

I would say keep them inside for another week or so until they are mostly feathered and then put them out. I’m the garage I would fully take away the heat lamp. If you lived in a warmer place I would place them outside already. I place them out side at 3-5 days old as I live in a hot area where it is normally 90+ degrees