5 and 6 week old chicks acting cold in an 80 degree room?

[FattySmough]

Hey everyone.

I have two 5 week old chicks and three 6 week old chicks. I am trying to wean them off of heat, so for the past couple of days I have let them stay in an outside pen during the day and bring them into their brooder at night. The daytime temps outside have been ranging between seventies and upper eighties, so it is quite warm outside. It's about 75-80 degrees in their brooder room so I thought I could start leaving the heat lamp off, but now they are acting cold (Huddling and being noisy) despite being mostly feathered and in a warm room. Am I doing something wrong? None of my previous batches of chicks have given me this problem. Any advice is welcome.

 

[janiedoe]

Was this their first time outside?
If they are looking puffed up, and huddling, you may want to purchase some corid. They may have been exposed to cocidosis when they were outside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have two 5 week old chicks and three 6 week old chicks. It's about 75-80 degrees in their brooder room so I thought I could start leaving the heat lamp off, but now they are acting cold (Huddling and being noisy)

At that age in those temperatures, they are not cold. Something else is going on. Can you describe that huddling and being noisy a little more? Is there a time that it happens? What kind of noise? Is it all of them? Is anything different, like their first time in the dark? Any change to their brooder, food, or water? How long has it lasted? A photo might help but I'm a little mystified.

When they are sick with Coccidiosis or about anything else they become lethargic and fluff up. They don't huddle, just sort of squat in one place and fluff up. It is obvious they don't feel good. Mine only had Coccidiosis once, I can't remember if they made any noise or not. All of them should not be affected at exactly the same time.

It doesn't hurt to treat them with Corid for Coccidiosis. Treating them won't hurt them. If it is Cocci it is not from their exposure the last two days. The life cycle of the microbe that causes Cocci takes longer than that but they may have been exposed earlier.

To me huddled and being noisy doesn't sound like Cocci but I've been wrong before. To me it sounds more like something has changed to make them nervous, I wouldn't be surprised if they are over it by now.

 

[FattySmough]

For most of their life they have had a lamp on at all times, so maybe they are frightened from the environmental change. They have been eating medicated feed since I first got them so Coccidiosis seems unlikely, but I suppose I could treat them just to be safe.

Most importantly, this morning they seem to be doing just fine. I will leave them inside for a few days so I can monitor them more closely. If they become worse I will update. Thank you guys for your help!