Brooder Location Questions.

[saraiquimby1]

I'm in Indiana. It's getting COLD at night, a little less cold during the day right now. (Between -15 and about 40F. Fluctuating constantly as Indiana weather does).
I want to get chicks but i'm torn between the best way to have them in the winter.
Previously I have kept them in our basement until feathered out, however I have yet to find a container to keep them in past about 2 weeks where they have enough room so I hesitate to put them down there again. Plus it's a dark unfinished basement so that's not ideal.
And I've never gotten this many (planning on 15-20 chicks).
I have an EcoGlow 20 that I have been using and I know it's not supposed to be used when conditions are under like 40-50 degrees. So that means I can't keep them in my other option, which would be in a stall in my horse barn. I have sheep and horses inside at night so I don't want to hang a heat lamp with as much wind and hay is around right now. The barn would be no warmer than outside since the back doors are always open, but it would be draft free and ample space (10x10 stall). I have been contemplating the Mamma's Heating Pad method if I do the horse stall but is it still too cold outside of the heating pad to keep them warm enough? Especially if it gets down towards 0 degrees?
I don't know what to do this time.
I don't want to wait to get chicks because our Rural King tends to have really great chick breeds in the winter months, and the more common every day ones in the spring and summer so I wold love to be able to get them now. Plus I always like to get them in January/February. It's just the way I do it and it works. Just looking for an easier route possibly.

SO to recap
Options are:
-Basement: Dark, Not much space (Don't know what I would even put them in)
-Horse Stall: Colder, But more space and lighter/exposed to everyday sun up and sun down light.

If basement is better then I need help figuring out what to put 15-20 chicks in for up to 6 weeks.
Opinions?

 

[Welshies]

I think you should wait, honestly.
You could keep them in the basement in a huge cardboard box. Look around and put "in search of" ads up for a 50 sq ft or so box.

 

[junebuggena]

A wardrobe box from U-haul is the perfect size for brooding 15 to 20 chicks, and they only cost about $12. The unfinished basement is actually ideal. Basement temps are much more stable than a barn stall. And if you use a momma heating pad, you could have chicks feathered in and ready to start transitioning to outdoors in as little as 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[Welshies]

chicks feathered in and ready to start transitioning to outdoors in as little as 3 or 4 weeks.

Depending on climate.

 

[Blooie]

Depending on climate.

I disagree. I’ve raised chicks outdoors in a wire pen in the run with temps in the twenties, dropping into the teens with snowstorms and winds. In an unfinished basement, as @junebuggena said, temps are stable even if they are lower than ”the books” would have us believe are correct. I don’t recommend getting chicks in the dead of winter - those temps I have mentioned are our springtime temps. It’s just the luck of the draw that they happen during the height of what is normal, warmer chick season for most of the country. But people do it, and very successfully, and they know better than I do what their situation and personal comfort zones are.

Chicks not only handle lower temps than that magic 90 degrees the first week wisdom preaches, they actually NEED a little coolness around them. Witness a broody hen successfully raising chicks outdoors in a coop. She has no thermostat to keep them at a precise temperature, nor does she have nightlights under her wings. They don’t stay under her warm feathers 24/7. The chicks run all over the place, exploring and learning to be chickens, even during cold rains or a bit of snow. They just dash under her for a quick warm-up or for a little security if they get spooked. Then they are right back out in the environment.

I won’t even use a heat lamp. It heats everything around it. Again, as my friend @junebuggena says, a wardrobe box from U-Haul makes a wonderful brooder, especially because it gives them plenty of space to get away from the heat. One other thing I would never recommend are plasttic totes. Too small, too crowded, and they get far too warm. The chicks will most likely survive but for me survival isn’t good enough....I want them to flourish - to be confident, strong and feather out quickly.

 

[Welshies]

I disagree. I’ve raised chicks outdoors in a wire pen in the run with temps in the twenties, dropping into the teens with snowstorms and winds. In an unfinished basement, as @junebuggena said, temps are stable even if they are lower than ”the books” would have us believe are correct. I don’t recommend getting chicks in the dead of winter - those temps I have mentioned are our springtime temps. It’s just the luck of the draw that they happen during the height of what is normal, warmer chick season for most of the country.

Chicks not not only handle lower temps than that magic 90 degrees the first week wisdom preaches, they actually NEED a little coolness around them. Witness a broody hen successfully raising chicks outdoors in a coop. She has no thermostat to keep them at a precise temperature, nor does she have nightlights under her wings. They don’t stay under her warm feathers 24/7. The chicks run all over the place, exploring and learning to be chickens, even during cold rains or a bit of snow. They just dash under her for a quick warm-up or for a little security if they get spooked. Then they are right back out in the environment.

I won’t even use a heat lamp. It heats everything around it. Again, as my friend @junebuggena says, a wardrobe box from U-Haul makes a wonderful brooder, especially because it gives them plenty of space to get away from the heat. One other thing I would never recommend are plasttic totes. Too small, too crowded, and they get far too warm. The chicks will most likely survive but for me survival isn’t good enough....I want them to flourish - to be confident, strong and feather out quickly.

All I said was depending on climate. I know chicks are hardy. But the OP's climate may cause chicks to fall prone to frostbite. If I did what the OP planned to do in my.climate, of -35°C, they'd be dead in minutes when i moved them outside.

 

[Blooie]

Did you read my response, or skim over it? I somehow don’t think her basement is at -35, and a huge box down there seems like the most logical of her two options. She did ask specifically which of the two options - the basement or the barn stall - would work with Mama Heating Pad. My mistake was in not specifically stating that I wouldn’t do MHP out in those cold temperatures, just as she knows she can’t use her Eco Glow. Since I did specifically discuss “the basement” in my response, and I knew she uses an Eco Glow as her usual heat source, i thought it was pretty clearly implied.

 

[Welshies]

Did you read my response, or skim over it? I somehow don’t think her basement is at -35, and a huge box down there seems like the most logical of her two options. She did ask specifically which of the two options - the basement or the barn stall - would work with Mama Heating Pad. My mistake was in not specifically stating that I wouldn’t do MHP out in those cold temperatures, just as she knows she can’t use her Eco Glow. Since I did specifically discuss “the basement” in my response, and I knew she uses an Eco Glow as her usual heat source, i thought it was pretty clearly implied.

I was talking about being moved outside and how that depends on the climate of this person.

 

[junebuggena]

I was talking about being moved outside and how that depends on the climate of this person.

If care is taken to properly acclimate the chicks, it can be done. The stall in the horse barn would be good for that process.

 

[Welshies]

If care is taken to properly acclimate the chicks, it can be done. The stall in the horse barn would be good for that process.

That is very true. However, climate would factor in for the OP on when the OP wants to start brooding chicks. OP should also consider frostbite if it regularly gets below -4°F.