Acclimating Chicks to the cold question

[Buster]

I've been keeping mine in a 75 gallon aquarium in the basement because the brower brooder in the garage didn't keep the temps stable enough in the bitter cold temps we have been having. Now that they are 4-5 weeks old I just moved them into it again and I'm watching to see how they do. I can't handle the smell in the basement anymore. It's not bad when they are first hatched but after 3-4 weeks it gets unbearable. The ones I moved to the heated Brower brooder in the garage have a lot of feathers and the temps say 90-94 degrees but they are all sitting around huddled up like they are cold. Has anyone had experience with this? Are they going to be ok or do I need to put them back in the basement for a while?

 

[crazyhen]

How long have they been there? Is the floor concrete? If it is put something between them and it to insulate it some more.. The air temp. can be warm but the temp on their feet cold. If you have to bring them back in ,use furnace air flilters over the top. It will help with dust and odor. Keep it very dry. I put puppy pee pads in the brooder under the layer of soft wood shavings that helped some. I got the ones with baking soda inbetween the layers. Also you can put some DE or stall dry under the layer of soft wood shavings to help with the odor. Good luck with your fuzzy butts Jean

 

[Buster]

Thanks Jean. They are on wire in the Brower brooder. Maybe their feet are cold. I wonder what I can put in there to insulate their feet more? They have only been in there for a couple of hours.

I'm definitely going to use the furnace filter idea for my basement brooders (I still have more chicks down there).

 

[Buster]

I've been checking on them and they were still all huddled on the wire so I put some newspaper down to help insulate them from the wire, cut drafts and hold in the heat better. I'll go check again in a half hour.

 

[AHappychick]

I would think that they are pretty well featherd in by now and if the temp is in the 90's I would think that they are fine, maybe they are still unsure of their new surroundings. The newspaper is a good idea.

 

[Buster]

Thanks. Here is a pic of the setup. I've had quail in there for a couple of months but when I put day-old chicks in, they started having problems so I brought them inside where I wouldn't have to stress about it.

 

[AHappychick]

wow that is a really cool brooder!

 

[Buster]

It was a gift.

 

[AHappychick]

what a great gift!

 

[gritsar]

Are they huddled near the heat source or away from it? Could they be huddling away from a draft? Are they panting or spreading their wings?
90 to 94 degrees at 4 to 5 weeks old seems awful hot to me.