Hot chicks in Texas

i had a clamp on light attached to my brooder with a 100 watt light bulb. I put it on the end of the brooder so they could move away from it if they got too hot. I also installed a thermometer to be able to see what the actual temp was. I had the light on a timer to come on when it cooled off in the evenning until around 10 am. They should be ok during the day as long as they are not in the direct sun, have good ventillation and plenty of water

Learn to observe your chicks and determine their heat needs by their behavior and stop relying on the thermometer. Chicks' heat needs can vary greatly. What might be comfortable for one chick could make another sick with overheating.

Chicks that are too cold will pile in a corner, scrunched up like a pile of pill bugs. Overheated chicks will be spread out around the edges prostrate and panting as far away from the heat source as they can get. More chicks get into trouble being subjected to too much heat than too little.

First of all, get your chicks into the coop with a run with plenty of shade asap! Space is the key when trying to keep chicks from overheating! You probably won't need any heat lamp on them at all during the day, even now, as long as it's as hot as it is. Chicks are plenty comfortable down to 80F their first week, and down to 70 their second.

Using a light to heat is risky. Why not use the heating pad system and quit worrying? See "mama heating pad in the brooder" thread on this forum. It enables chicks to regulate their own individual heat needs with zero risk of overheating.

By the way, using a metal container is going to make their space almost impossible to escape overheating as metal absorbs and retains heat.

And welcome to BYC!

Thank you so much. Yery helpful. I'm going to let them run in the yard today. The coop should be ready for them in a couple of days.