80 Degrees....?

[spotstealer]

My chickies are the same age. I have the brooder in the house. I bought a 10-1/2 brooder lamp, with a 75w incandecent bulb about 15" above the girls (the inside dimensions are 18"x32" with the heat source on one end). My house is about 68 degrees in the room I keep them in. They appear to be comfy, as they come and go under the lamp. Today and this evening they were hanging out mostly on the perimeter of the heat lamp. May I suggest a ceramic style heat lamp? They sell them at the pet store that cater to reptiles. They are much more safe than IR heat lamps. They screw right in to the ceramic base of your regular lamps. I've had them three days now, bot are they active. They come right to the screen door every time I talk to them. They stretch up and peep like crazy! My lab just sits and watches them, probably thinking "great, more competition". I want him to get used to the birds, as he is a great pheasant hunter. I wouldn't want him confused and try to flush them! Our cats are really good too. They were curious the first couple days, but now could care less (at least while we're watching). I am going to build a larger brooder as I am sure they will soon out grow this one!

 

[NonnasBabies]

Let your chicks tell you if their too cold or not!! If they all huddle up all on top of each other and are peeping like crazy then their cold. They will still usually sleep cuddled with each other but trust me you can tell the difference!! As many chicks as I've brooded I've never once put a thermometer in the brooder!!

 

[Liamm_1]

Quote:
Exactly! Let the chicks be your thermometer, there is no better way.

 

[tammyd57]

I agree. The only thermometer I've ever had in a brooder in over 40 years of raising chicks has been the chicks themselves. They'll tell you if it's hot or cold. And they aren't shy with their complaints either!

 

[Gypsy07]

If they are a hardy breed of chick and the temps don't drop any lower through the night then I'd say they'll probably be okay. Seven of them can huddle together for warmth. Maybe turn your heating up a bit just to be sure until you can get a hotter lamp tomorrow. I used to regularly start my chicks in a brooder that was way less than the recommended 90-95F and I never had any problems with them...

 

[Fred's Hens]

The brooder of the past was a hood that concentrated the heat and held the heat in place. The chicks could congregate under the hood or scamper outside the dome of heat, if they wished. Brooding was done in the barn or coop.

The typical home brooder is a tank, tub or similar with an open top and all the heat escapes. To compensate, large heat lamps are used to create a very warm, direct "spot". My concern with the modern, home setup is that it is quite easy to make it too warm with so little room for the chick to move away from or toward the heat and self regulate.

 

[BerrytangleFarm]

It really does depend on the individual chicks. I had mine inside at 70 ambient room temperature with a 100-watt red flood lamp on top of the Rubbermaid container. They were fine. At 2 weeks I put them in the 60 degree ambient garage with the same lamp at the same distance and they were just fine. I don't use a thermometer anymore. I just use the chicks

 

[mistymeadowchicks]

Quote:
Exactly! Let the chicks be your thermometer, there is no better way.

I agree. The only thermometer I've ever had in a brooder in over 40 years of raising chicks has been the chicks themselves. They'll tell you if it's hot or cold. And they aren't shy with their complaints either!

Ditto! I personally haven't used a thermometer w/ any of the chicks (on my 4th group now) I've raised. Watch them & their behavior will tell you if temp is right. (Somewhere on here I read a post that said if all is good, they'd look like little waterbugs darting around--which is an accurate description!) I personally prefer a 'hover style'. My dad made one using a metal garbage can lid with a light bulb mounted in it that I used on first batch. You can raise or lower it based on age/ behavior; the lid helps hold the heat. For the next groups, I built a 2' x 4' raised box w/ bulbs at both ends--think giant man-made hen (google 'brooders' on this site & look for an A.T. Hagan post a couple months ago--this thing works great!) I'm using this now & the girls are thriving little maniacs, plus they love "upstairs"! Both options allow everyone to move to the perfect temp for them personally. In spite of some opinions, raising chick is not that complicated or detail specific. Have fun & prepare for some amazing growth/ changes in your babies. It's still mind-boggling how fast these guys grow! '

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