Brooder heating

[DraftXJumper]

Hello! I'm very new to raising backyard chickens. We have four chicks that are about a week old, and doing great so far. However, today we switched from a red heat lamp to the Ecogrow 20 for safety reasons. I'm worried about it keeping the girls warm, especially overnight. They are in our garage, so it's draft-free and fairly warm on it's own, but the thermometer I have under the Ecogrow shows about 85º, which makes me nervous that my girls are going to get cold. The Ecogrow is on the middle height setting, but I'm going to switch it to the lowest setting. Am I being overly worried or should they be warm enough? TIA!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

80-85 is a good temperature for week 2. I personally use a 125 watt bulb, and never use the red 250 watt, they are too hot, and I find the red unnecessary.

 

[Chicken Chat]

You cannot take the air temp under the ecoglow. It's radiant heat so it warms solid bodies not the air. I used one for the first time this spring and my chicks LOVED it. They went under it when they got cold and came out when they warmed, just like with momma. Plus, since it is not a light, they get to have a sleep cycle.