how soon can chicks live outside

[vader123]

I have incubated some eggs at home the chicks are now 3 wks old and doing great I was thinking about 10- 12 wks was the norm before they are ok to be outside free range ?????

[Kleiber]

What you need to do, is have them in a run, where they can go out during the day (not free range,yet, though) & get rain on their feathers, but be able to go back inside when they need to. This will "harden" the feathers, so they will be OK when they get older. About 12 weeks is OK to go out, but be careful, as they haven't had a mum to teach them what is good & what is dangerous, so watch them & make sure they are safe! Have you started to "wean" them on to layers pellets & corn yet? You can start as soon as the hard feathers start to appear. You've done a great job in getting them to this stage, so you're obviously doing it right!! Have a look at the "Practical Poultry" website - it's quite useful. Good luck! K xx

[Whoever]

If you go to the following website

http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/index.php

you can sign up to their forum. There are quite a few chicken keepers on there and if you have any further questions or queries about your new chicks I'm sure you will find people there who will be happy to help you.