Regulating brooder temp

[organic egglets]

I'm having a hard time getting the temp in my brooder to be consistent throughout. Under the lamp temps are 110+ but if I move the thermometer about 6 inches to the right/left temps are 85-87. I way thinking about making a cardboard lid for 1/2 of the box. But I'm wondering of maybe the brooder is just too big? Ill only have 6 chicks.

 

[BottleHollow]

You will be fine. The chicks will move under the lamp when they want to get warm and away from the lamp when they are too hot. We use bigger brooders (the big metal water tanks that are 2 ft x 2ft x 4 ft) and don't have any problems at all.

110+ is a little hot. If you notice the chicks don't go under the lamp much, then you're too hot. You can move the lamp up. We use the lamps with dimmer switches now so we don't have to move lamps up or down. They are nice for adjusting temperatures.

Enjoy.

 

[RonC]

I'd raise the light on the one end of the brooder to get the temoerature down to 95. The other end can be 65 and will not hurt.

 

[Brandi Leigh]

I'd raise the light on the one end of the brooder to get the temoerature down to 95. The other end can be 65 and will not hurt.

I have a long brooder and one side is always cooler. They chicks always seem to hang out on the cooler side.

 

[RonC]

You brooder isn't too big,.By the time they are a month old it will be too small. If the are always on the cool end then raise the lamp. You can drop the temp on the warm end by 5-7 degrees per week old they are starting at 95. 110 is way too hot. I'd use chicken wire on the top for ventilation, not a solid top. They will bake in there. And make double sure the light cannot fall. Big fire hazard!

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Yeah you're good, the chicks need to be able to get away from the heat.

 

[FreedomFarmVT]

I'm having trouble getting the "right" temp in general. It's either 100+ or below 80. One brooder I have the heat lamp is on a pulley, and the other the heat lamp is just about clamped to the rafters. It's not a very big room, so the rafters aren't as high up as one might think. They're about 4' above the brooders. The chicks don't seem to mind much, it's just everywhere you look/read they talk about lowering the temp each week till you reach 75 by the fourth week, but I can't get it to a steady 90.

 

[azygous]

You aren't heating the entire brooder, so stop trying to "regulate" the temperature. The heat zone you want to be 85-95F during the first week is directly beneath the heat source. The rest of the brooder should be 20-30 degrees cooler.

Some chicks like it 95 while others find that too hot. You need to watch the chicks. If they are moving in and out of the warm zone, running around the entire brooder, the temperature is just right. If the chicks are off to the side, standing with wings held out from their bodies and panting, you have the whole brooder too hot. You need to raise the heat lamp. If the chicks have planted themselves in a pile either under the heat lamp or in a corner, then you need to lower the heat lamp.

You don't need two heat lamps unless you have 100 chicks.

 

[aart]

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[lilmarie84]

is there a difference between the lamp and mats can you use one or the other or do they need to be used together is one better than the other