Brooder temps

[kirak74]

Hi all,
We received our chicks on Tuesday and just lost a second one (out of 15) tonight (the other died this morning). Both seemed fine yesterday. They are on medicated feed and we are using a heat plate that they spend some time under, but not a lot (they do sleep under it at night). I know chicks sometimes die for no reason, but just want to rule out anything it could be on our end. They both had a little case of pasty butt, but nothing terrible and we cleaned them up. We have been running a space heater in the room they are in because its a rather chilly bathroom. I'd say it's about 80 degrees in the room. Is that too warm? I know they need 95, which they get from the heat plate, but can the room in general be too warm? I don't see signs of them being too hot (no panting). Should I turn the temp down in the room (they would still have the heat plate of course)? Thanks!

 

[MissNutmeg]

Well, if the chicks are huddled together that means they most likely are cold.

 

[kirak74]

They are not huddled together.

 

[lazy gardener]

What kind of a space heater? Is it electric? You don't need to heat the room. If they are in a brooder, they need a warm space. You don't need to have the whole brooder warm. You are providing that with the heat plate. Is the heat plate designed to brood chicks? Are they supposed to be able to touch the underside with their backs? If so, can they?

 

[kirak74]

It is an electric heater. The bathroom tends to get very cold so I thought some additional heat might be warranted, but maybe not then? Without the space heater, I'm guessing the room temp would get down to 55-60. The heat plate is for chicks (premiere) and they can touch it with their backs (they sleep with their backs under but their heads out).

 

[lazy gardener]

I would take the space heater out of that bathroom. It will help the chicks to acclimate better.

 

[aart]

I would take the space heater out of that bathroom. It will help the chicks to acclimate better.

Out of ovations......This^^^^

 

[kirak74]

Thanks all!

 

[wcfinklized]

Hey. Really dumb question.... Do I check direct under heat bulb temp? Cuz off to side is only reading 80 but under it directly is reading over a 100

 

[azygous]

You're doing it right. The temp under the bulb should be in the 85F to 90F range during the first week and lower each succeeding week until no heat is required at age five weeks.

But 100 is too hot. You need to raise the bulb so the temp reads around 85-90 on the floor. The brooder must have enough space so the cool side is twenty to thirty degrees cooler so chicks are able to shed excess body heat. Unless they have this cool range, they will sicken and die of too much heat. Too much heat is actually way more dangerous than too little.

This is why many of us are switching from heat lamps to the heating pad system. It's impossible to overheat the chicks using this method. I recommend you look into it.