When Can Chicks Come Off Heat and Go Outside?

August 18, 2026

When Can Chicks Come Off Heat and Go Outside?

If you’ve ever raised chicks, chances are you’ve asked this question:

When can I turn the heat off and put them outside?

It sounds like there should be a simple answer, such as four weeks, five weeks or six weeks.

But chickens rarely work to a calendar.

How long chicks need supplementary heat depends on their age, how quickly they feather up, the weather, overnight temperatures and, importantly, what the chicks themselves are telling you.

So rather than circling a date on the calendar, here’s what to look for.

Why Do Chicks Need Heat in the First Place?

Newly hatched chicks aren’t very good at regulating their own body temperature.

Naturally, they would tuck themselves underneath a broody hen whenever they needed warmth, then pop back out to eat, drink, scratch and explore.

When we raise chicks without a mother hen, we need to provide that warmth for them.

During the first week, chicks generally need access to an area around 32 to 35°C.

From there, the temperature can gradually be reduced as they grow and develop their feathers.

A general guide is:

Week 1: 32 to 35°C
Week 2: 29 to 32°C
Week 3: 27 to 29°C
Week 4: 24 to 27°C
Week 5: 21 to 24°C
Week 6: Many fully feathered chicks may no longer require additional heat, depending on the weather.

But treat those numbers as a guide, not a strict rule.

Breed, feather development, brooder setup, weather and overnight temperatures all make a difference.

Watch Your Chicks, Not Just the Thermometer

One of the best indicators of whether your chicks are comfortable is simply watching them.

If they're tightly huddled underneath their heat source, constantly cheeping and reluctant to move away, they're probably cold.

If they're staying as far away from the heat as possible, spreading themselves out or panting, they may be too hot.

Happy chicks generally move freely between warmth and cooler areas, eating, drinking, scratching, sleeping and doing all the ridiculous little things chicks do.

And this is where how we provide that heat matters.

With a traditional heat lamp or heat plate inside a confined brooder, heat doesn't necessarily stay directly underneath the heat source. The surrounding air and brooder environment can also warm up.

A chick can move away from the direct heat of the lamp or plate, but depending on the size and design of the brooder, it may still be sitting in a warm environment.

That's quite different from what happens underneath a mother hen.

A chick seeking warmth naturally ducks underneath mum's body and wings. When it's warm enough, it simply walks back out into the cooler surrounding environment.

It can move in and out as often as it needs to.

Warmth when it wants it. Cool when it doesn't.

This natural behaviour is one of the key ideas behind the Mother Clucker Heated Hen™.

Rather than heating the brooder itself, the Mother Clucker Heated Hen™ is being designed to provide warmth directly beneath her wings. Chicks can tuck underneath when they need warmth, then move completely away from the heat source when they don't.

It's a simple concept, but it's an important one.

Don't heat the chick's whole world. Give the chick somewhere warm to go.

That's much closer to how mum does it.

When Should You Start Reducing the Heat?

As chicks develop their proper feathers, their ability to keep themselves warm improves.

You can gradually reduce their reliance on supplementary heat rather than suddenly switching it off one day.

By around four to six weeks, many chicks are well feathered and becoming increasingly independent of their heat source.

But look at the chick in front of you.

Some breeds feather faster than others. Some chicks may still have quite a bit of fluffy down while others of the same age look like miniature chickens.

Their feather development matters more than simply saying, "They're five weeks old, so the heat goes off."

Pay attention to how often they're actually seeking warmth too.

If they're spending less and less time underneath their heat source, that's another clue that they're becoming more capable of maintaining their own body temperature.

When Can Chicks Start Going Outside?

Here's where things sometimes get confusing.

Going outside for a few hours and moving outside permanently are not the same thing.

Chicks can often start having supervised outdoor adventures before they're ready to live outside full time.

Choose a warm, dry and calm day and put them somewhere secure where they're protected from predators.

Let them experience grass, dirt, sunshine and, of course, the absolute excitement of discovering their first bug.

If they become cold, start huddling together or the weather changes, bring them back inside.

These little outings can also help chicks gradually become accustomed to outdoor conditions.

When Can They Move Into the Coop?

For many chicks, permanently moving outside happens somewhere around six weeks of age, but there isn't a magic six-week rule.

Before making the move, ask yourself:

Are they fully or almost fully feathered?
Are they coping comfortably without supplementary heat?
Are they spending less time seeking their heat source?
What are the overnight temperatures?
Is the coop dry?
Is it protected from wind and rain?
Is it secure from predators?
Have they had an opportunity to become accustomed to outdoor temperatures?

This is particularly important in Australia because our conditions vary enormously.

A six-week-old chick on a warm Queensland spring night is dealing with something very different from a six-week-old chick experiencing a freezing night further south.

Weather matters more than the date on the calendar.

What About Joining the Adult Chickens?

Being ready to live outside doesn't necessarily mean your youngsters are ready to be dropped straight into an established flock.

Chickens take their pecking order very seriously.

Older hens can bully younger birds, particularly when new chickens suddenly appear in their territory.

Where possible, introduce younger chickens gradually.

Allowing the two groups to see and hear each other through fencing before they have full physical access can make the eventual introduction much smoother.

If you're bringing new pullets or chicks into an existing flock this spring, we've also covered this in our guide to introducing new chickens to your existing flock.

Think Like a Mother Hen

Perhaps the easiest way to think about brooding chicks is to look at what happens naturally.

A mother hen doesn't keep her chicks at one constant temperature.

She doesn't heat the entire area around them.

She provides a source of warmth.

Her chicks run around exploring, eating and drinking. When they need warmth, comfort or darkness, they disappear underneath her.

When they're warm enough, they come back out.

As they grow and feather up, they spend less time underneath mum and more time exploring independently.

Eventually, they don't need her warmth at all.

That natural process is what inspired the Mother Clucker Heated Hen™.

We're developing a life-sized plush heated hen designed to provide chicks with warmth and a dark, comforting place beneath her wings.

The aim isn't to heat their entire environment.

It's to give them somewhere warm to go.

As chicks grow, feather up and become better at regulating their own temperature, they can naturally spend less time underneath her until they no longer need supplementary warmth.

As close to nature as possible. The next best thing to mama.

The Mother Clucker Heated Hen™ is currently in development and getting closer to joining brooders across Australia.

Want to know when she finally hatches? Join our flock to be among the first to hear when the Mother Clucker Heated Hen™ is released.