Hot chicks!

[Princess Pine]

Help! I'm a new chicken mom and have 12 2 week old chick's. Today I moved them out of their plastic Rubbermaid broader and into a bigger cage that was originally a rabbit/ guinea pig cage.They were getting to big for that brooder. I put the 100 watt bulb on top like before but the temp was a little low like maybe 75. They should be at 80 now so I used the 125 watt heat lamp and got the temp up to 80. They were fine till later in the evening and then everyone was acting crazy tired and everyone was laying down sleeping! It was only 80 and I began to think they were all sick from the little bit of broccoli florets I gave them as a treat after I looked it up and it said it was OK! Soooo I took the heat lamp out, which I had about 2.5 feet away from them, and put the old 100 watt bulb back and they woke right up and are acting normal again. I was scared to death! We're they to hot even though it was only 80? Was it because it was a heat lamp? My husband is an EMT and said I was probably cooking them! Omg I'm still sick to my stomach! I was so worried. Can someone tell me what is up with all this?

Thank you!

 

[SueT]

I would wonder if the thermometer was accurate....also if they eat anything other than crumbles, they need grit. And there is chick grit just the right size.
Welcome to BYC...Be sure to check out the Learning Center for all the how to's. Here is a temp guide from Purina:

Good luck!

 

[Princess Pine]

 

[Princess Pine]

Thanks so much. They seem very happy and normal now although it's only 75. I'm afraid to have it any warmer. That was scary. I'll be glad when they are past this. I'm an animal lover and have just about everything except chickens. Geese, I've got myself 12 new kids!

 

[ChickenMammX4]

They all look happy to me. I don't think any harm was done. Sometimes when they sleep, chicks look dead. Just wait until you see them sun bathing or dust bathing, it looks like they are having seizures!

Ditto about the grit. Get a bag of chick grit at the feed store and set it out in a small bowl (I used a clean cat food tin) or sprinkle it on the floor of the brooder.

 

[Stephine]

It might have just been an exciting day for them with the move and they were tuckered? 80 should be fine unless the whole brooder is 80. They need to have the heat at one end and the other end of the brooder needs to be cooler, but you probably know that.

 

[Princess Pine]

Thank you. They all seem just fine now. Some are sleeping some are playing some are hanging out on the roost which is a yardstick LOL. But it was very bizarre. All of a sudden they were all so quiet and everybody was laying down and sleeping. I've seen them lay down before when I first got them and it kind of freaked me out a little. I did think oh my God what's wrong are they dying but then I realized that they were just sleeping. But this was different like nathargic. They really just seemed like something was wrong. It was very scary. And as soon as I turned off that light everybody was just fine. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the infrared light rather than just a regular light bulb? That's what my husband said. The temperature was only 80 degrees yet all 12 of them were laying around like it was a hundred and twenty-five! They have never done that. So now it's under 80 but I put some towels over and around the cage to hold in the heat. I don't like that red warming lamp.

 

[Stephine]

Aahhh - from the picture it seems that you don't have the thermometer in the right spot - you want it under the light to measure the highest temperature. Off on the side on an open pen it would be cooler.
I agree with the above, go by where the chicks are. If they avoid the light circle like the plague they are too hot.
Also, I know you just set them up in a bigger brooder but that still looks awfully small for 12 chicks. It cannot possibly last you for more than a week (they grow a lot between week two and three). I only have two in an oval foot galvanized trough and am starting to think about providing a bit more space for them soon... They are three weeks old.
When I had 15 chicks last year I moved them into a 4'x8' brooder made out of moving boxes and an xpen at three weeks. They need to have room to run around and flutter a bit without landing in the water or feed dish and some bars for roosting are good to have in there, too.

 

[Princess Pine]

Hi Stephanie thank you for your response. Like I mentioned before I think everything was just fine in the other brooder. And even when I moved them into this bigger cage everything seemed to be fine as well but as soon as I started using that infrared warmer that was 125,they were just out of it. Now they are happy. I do have a yard stick in there for them to perch on. The new cage is much bigger the the last and I have a giant dog crate I will move them too next. We still have to build a coop. Still cold here for I live in New England.

 

[Princess Pine]