Brooder plate plus space heater?

[Mikski]

Hello! I am raising my first batch of chicks. They are all 2-3 weeks old (although some are much bigger than others!) I have 12 in total in a 4x4 brooder box I built in my basement. They all seem to be doing quite well. I currently have a space heater in the room keeping the ambient temperature around 75 degrees, and I have the producer’s pride brooder plate. All the chickies are very active and moving about the brooder most of the day. I’m wondering at what age can I start to lower the heat? And should I get rid of the space heater or the brooder plate first? Without the space heater, the basement stays around 65 degrees. Thanks for the advice!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd ditch the space heater, no need for it to be 75 ambient when the plate will work just fine at 65. The chicks will wean themselves off the brooder plate, you will start finding them not wanting to sleep under it, if they're not already starting to do so.

 

[Mikski]

I'd ditch the space heater, no need for it to be 75 ambient when the plate will work just fine at 65. The chicks will wean themselves off the brooder plate, you will start finding them not wanting to sleep under it, if they're not already starting to do so.

Thanks! I turned off the space heater today and haven’t noticed much change in activity. They still spend much more time out exploring their brooder than huddled beneath it. Would the next step be to turn to brooder plate vertical? Or would I just turn it off altogether? And how old usually?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Would the next step be to turn to brooder plate vertical? Or would I just turn it off altogether? And how old usually?

Leave it horizontal but you may need to bump up the height (like putting wood pieces or bricks under the feet) if they can't comfortably fit under at this point.

I would continue to leave it on for another week or so since you have some age variance in the group, unless you notice that none of the chicks want to use it (at which point you can simply remove it).