How to raise chicks in cold temperatures?

[ameliachickens]

I would say defenitly use a heating lamp to keep them warm and when you move them into the coop make sure they are fully feathered and you could add hay in the coop to keep them extra warm. You also might need a heater under their water so that it doesnt freeze.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Bighead, are your temperatures Fahrenheit or Celsius? That could make a big difference. We have people on here from all over the world.

If that is Celsius you could probably manage with a hover with no supplemental heat though I’d be a bit concerned the first few days. A hover is an inverted box with just enough room for the chicks to go in and out. Warm air rises so their body heat gets trapped under that box and keeps them warm.

If it is Fahrenheit you need a heat source. That heating pad cave can work really well as long as it is big enough for the number of chicks you have. The hover can work too but you need to provide some heat. Not a lot but some. You don’t want to cook them.

I use a heat lamp, two when it is below freezing. I only heat one area and let the rest of my large brooder (3’ x 6’) cool off as it will. The far end may have ice in it but the end the chicks are in is kept pretty toasty. One of the problems with an outdoor brooder is that you get temperature swings. You need enough heat to handle the colder temperatures but that can be too hot when it warms up. By having a brooder big enough and letting the far end cool off as it will they can find their own comfort zone.

My chicks go straight in here from the incubator, even if the outside temperature is below freezing. Even if just hatched they know better than to leave the heated area.

 

[BigHead]

@Blooie they will be a hen in with them. Could I enclose my coop completely and use 2 heat lamps? My coop is 4ft x 4ft with a hen and around 15 chicks.

 

[BigHead]

My next option is to buy a heater (1500 watt) but I'm skeptical about the price to run it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I wouldn't use any heat lamps, the hen will keep them warm enough.

 

[azygous]

I got high marks back in school for reading comprehension, so here's another "catch". Big Head, what role will the hen play in the coop with 15 chicks? Is she merely donating her radiant heat or is she going to be hormonally broody and sit on the chicks? You do realize it's a pretty tall order convincing a hen to go broody when her hormones are in normal mode?

Chicks require focused radiant heat from some source, such as a heat lamp, or direct contact with a heat source such as the heating pad or broody hen. An electric space heater won't quite satisfy the needs of brooding chicks. It would be a waste of utility bucks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Smart question

 

[BigHead]

I'm just worried that the chicks will stay under the hen and not come out and eat & drink because it's so cold.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are a bit hardier than they look, are they day old now.

 

[Blooie]

They should do fine with a broody out there. And believe me, cold or not they will go out and eat and drink! These photos are of Agatha and Scout.


One day old and already wandering away for a drink and a nibble.


By the next day he was even braver, wandering way and exploring.



But he always found Mama, or she'd find him as in this shot.



He'd head under for a quick warm-up.


But the lure of the big wide world was just too much and he'd come squirting out again.

Edited to add: But please, do have an alternative plan in mind just in case your broody proves to be less than stellar or in case one of the gets hurt. Having something set up and ready to go if the worst happens could mean the difference between life and death for the chicks. I learned that from Scout, too. He got hurt and had to be brought in and cared for in the house. I was so glad we had a place for him.