Too Hot?

[ChikinInThePines]

Hey everyone!
We have been raising 8 baby chicks who are now just over 1 week old. They are fuzzy and starting to get some nice colored feathers coming in. One thing I noticed is that one of our Brahma chicks will lay and start panting. Now she doesn’t pant all the time, but only when I spy on them sleeping. Her beak will be slightly open and seems to breathe slightly faster than the others. The others will be fast asleep.
I turned off the red heat lamp on them and it seemed to help quite a bit. They all have been snuggling dead quiet now in the middle of the brooder without the heat lamp for 30 minutes now. Our home sits at about 69-70 degrees (it’s freezing outside). Would it be ok to leave the lamp off of them for the night?
Should I watch this one chick for illness?

Sorry this is our first batch of chicks so we are learning.

 

[Huntmaster]

Hey everyone!
We have been raising 8 baby chicks who are now just over 1 week old. They are fuzzy and starting to get some nice colored feathers coming in. One thing I noticed is that one of our Brahma chicks will lay and start panting. Now she doesn’t pant all the time, but only when I spy on them sleeping. Her beak will be slightly open and seems to breathe slightly faster than the others. The others will be fast asleep.
I turned off the red heat lamp on them and it seemed to help quite a bit. They all have been snuggling dead quiet now in the middle of the brooder without the heat lamp for 30 minutes now. Our home sits at about 69-70 degrees (it’s freezing outside). Would it be ok to leave the lamp off of them for the night?
Should I watch this one chick for illness?

Sorry this is our first batch of chicks so we are learning.

How big is their brooder? What is temp under heat lamp? Can't you just move the heat lamp to one end and raise it to lower temp?

 

[rosemarythyme]

If the heat lamp is the only source of heat, no do not turn it off at night at this age. You do need to give them the option of being able to cool off if they need it. There should be a warm area in the brooder roughly 85-90F or so, as well as areas at least 10 degrees or more cooler for them to escape to if needed.

To achieve this (if you haven't already done so) you either need to move the heat lamp further to one side, further away, reduce the bulb wattage, expand the brooder, or switch to an alternate form of heat (i.e. heating pad, heat plate).