Brooder lamp/heat plate question

[LilyHillFarm]

Hello all,
I have 12 eight day old mail order chicks….faverolles, Easter eggers, buff Orpingtons, barnevelders and speckled Sussex. The faverolles are not very strong and are not doing well with the heat. One faverolles is just now about the size of the other chicks when they arrived! I live in Northern Illinois, it’s hot and very humid. The chicks are in a large child’s pool in our garage. I struggled to keep the temperature constant without getting too warm with a heat lamp so I switched to a large heat plate. Tonight I turned off the heat lamp since they are using the heat plate during the day. But they also like laying around the light. Tonight the garage is staying about 82 degrees. I just went out to check on them. It is pitch dark in the garage. They are in a pile, all together like they are cold but are not using the heat plate. Should I turn the heat lamp on? I know I’m obsessing but I don’t want to stress the darling faverolles. Thank you.

 

[50-45-1]

I would replace out the heat bulb with a low wattage regular bulb, like a 40 watt.
The chicks will be able to find food and water with low light.
The heat plate for warmth if needed and the lamp to shed a little light for them.
Good luck with your chicks!

 

[Iluveggers]

I would maybe put a night light on so they can find the heat plate, & then manually start putting a few of them under it together so they know it’s a source of heat in the cooler temps. If they are cold, they’ll stay there together. I have a short string of battery powered mini Christmas lights in my brooder room mainly so I can see, but when my girls (almost 4 weeks) see the lights go on they head to their sleeping space in the brooder. It’s so cute! I’ll be taking the strand of lights out to the coop when they move there since they’re already used to it.

 

[LilyHillFarm]

I would replace out the heat bulb with a low wattage regular bulb, like a 40 watt.
The chicks will be able to find food and water with low light.
The heat plate for warmth if needed and the lamp to shed a little light for them.
Good luck with your chicks!

Thank you, I appreciate you taking time to answer me. I am just crazy about these little chicks…it’s embarrassing!

 

[LilyHillFarm]

I would maybe put a night light on so they can find the heat plate, & then manually start putting a few of them under it together so they know it’s a source of heat in the cooler temps. If they are cold, they’ll stay there together. I have a short string of battery powered mini Christmas lights in my brooder room mainly so I can see, but when my girls (almost 4 weeks) see the lights go on they head to their sleeping space in the brooder. It’s so cute! I’ll be taking the strand of lights out to the coop when they move there since they’re already used to it.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post. I am off to put in some little lights right now.

 

[NatJ]

I have 12 eight day old mail order chicks... Tonight the garage is staying about 82 degrees....They are in a pile, all together like they are cold but are not using the heat plate.

Chicks like to sleep in a group for comfort, even when they are not cold. At 82 degrees, with 12 chicks that are 8 days old, they may be warm enough where they are.

Adding a night light, and tucking some under the heat plate, will probably not cause any harm, but if the chicks do not want the heat they may come walking back out again!

The chicks are in a large child’s pool in our garage. I struggled to keep the temperature constant without getting too warm with a heat lamp

That can be difficult. Instead of trying to keep the temperature consistent, I find it easiest if one area is always too hot (right under the heat lamp) and a larger area is always too cold. That means that somewhere in the middle is just right, and the chicks can choose what temperature they want. But that method does require a fairly large brooder, because of how much heat the lamp produces, so switching to a heat plate was probably a good solution in your case.

 

[Iluveggers]

I am just crazy about these little chicks…it’s embarrassing!

This is the one community that you don’t have to be embarrassed to be crazy about chicks! I have a folder for pics of each one in my phone...that’s 24 chicken picture folders

 

[LilyHillFarm]

Chicks like to sleep in a group for comfort, even when they are not cold. At 82 degrees, with 12 chicks that are 8 days old, they may be warm enough where they are.

Adding a night light, and tucking some under the heat plate, will probably not cause any harm, but if the chicks do not want the heat they may come walking back out again!



That can be difficult. Instead of trying to keep the temperature consistent, I find it easiest if one area is always too hot (right under the heat lamp) and a larger area is always too cold. That means that somewhere in the middle is just right, and the chicks can choose what temperature they want. But that method does require a fairly large brooder, because of how much heat the lamp produces, so switching to a heat plate was probably a good solution in your case.

Thank you for replying. I have never had babies in the fall before, the heat and humidity has made things a little tricky with the lamp. They are in a six foot “baby pool.” After reading these posts I realized I am over thinking!

 

[LilyHillFarm]

Hello all, just an update. I ended up keeping the heat lamp as they have plenty of room to move away from it. I added dim Christmas lights for the evening and will use a solar set in the coop once they are transferred. My little, tiny Faverolle seems to be winning the war with her dirty bottom and growing but is about a third of the size of her sister Faverolles. She is very busy, eating and drinking. I think because she is a pretty big drinker she was getting too much electrolyte. I was using the electrolytes due to having the warm lamp because she is so small! Seems the true struggle was with the oppressive humidity but now that is gone everything seems to be fine. Thanks to all who responded!