Brooder Temperature

[silversong]

It's getting harder to find regular incandescent light bulbs and even harder to find a lamp that will take anything over 60 watts it seems. How do you setup the light over the brooder? I'm having difficulty coming up with ideas to make that work. Newbie here too

 

[Sonya9]

That is the problem with a small bin, it is hard to have a temp gradient (warm on one side, cool on the other). have you thought about using a heating pad? There is a thread here on that, I think it is called "mama heating pad", you make a little cave out of it so they can hide under it to warm up and sort of like a mama hen.

 

[Cowgirl101]

my family just got 12 chicks and i have them in a small box with a heat lamp. the heat lamp is over it and there is very little space where it is not warm. do i have to have space where there is no heat?

 

[SGTChicken]

Thanks all. I think brooder is just small, or the light is just big. I'm trying to keep it off the food/water but it's hard. For the most part, they seem happiest when the thermometer reads 90, so I'll keep it there. None of them seems stressed or anything so I'm just going to keep on keepin' on!

Now, if I could get them to stop sitting on the feeder, that would be lovely!

I had to clean my food trough and water dish (a small double water dish for small dogs) a couple times a day in my large plastic tub brooder. I also ended up with my 250W red bulb at about 8-10 inches above the top of the tub. They seemed happy with that. Good Luck.

 

[ChickityChina]

I don't have my chicks yet - getting 6 next week - but I also got a 250-w red bulb and now I see how many people are having overheating issues with it and a small brooder. I would hate to burn my chickadees. I might have to return the bulb and just get a regular 100-w too. I thought I had everything figured out, but boy, the more I read, the less I feel prepared, lol.

 

[azygous]

You are smart to explore all your options before you get the chicks.

Remember, brooders can be any temperature, as well as the surrounding environment. The heat zone temperature is that which is directly under the heat source. People often make the mistake in thinking they have to keep the entire brooder the recommended temperature. The fact is, it should be much cooler in the rest of the brooder so the chicks can have space in which to cool down.

Here's an option to consider that virtually eliminates the danger of over-heating. Instead of a heat lamp, why not go with the heating pad system? Look at the thread "Mama Heating Pad for the Brooder" on this forum. I set it up outside in my run in a safe pen. The chicks have the entire pen to run around in, warm up inside their "cave" and sleep warm and safe there even on nights that are down below freezing.

 

[ChickityChina]

You are smart to explore all your options before you get the chicks.

Remember, brooders can be any temperature, as well as the surrounding environment. The heat zone temperature is that which is directly under the heat source. People often make the mistake in thinking they have to keep the entire brooder the recommended temperature. The fact is, it should be much cooler in the rest of the brooder so the chicks can have space in which to cool down.

Here's an option to consider that virtually eliminates the danger of over-heating. Instead of a heat lamp, why not go with the heating pad system? Look at the thread "Mama Heating Pad for the Brooder" on this forum. I set it up outside in my run in a safe pen. The chicks have the entire pen to run around in, warm up inside their "cave" and sleep warm and safe there even on nights that are down below freezing.

It is definitely an option and I see that many people have had success with the mama heating pad. I will check it out too. Thanks!

 

[BigGreyFarm]

Just wondering about temperature for my chicks. They are 2.5 weeks old and are in a heated room in my barn.. It is 15 degrees Celsius in the room? Should I be turning off my heat lamp during the day? And maybe on at night in case it gets a bit chillier ? Help please

 

[azygous]

From the beginning of the second week, you want to be helping your chicks to wean themselves off heat by decreasing the temperature directly beneath the heat source by five degrees each week.

The rest if their brooder can be much cooler, in fact, the cooler the better. But if they haven't been experiencing very cool temps from the start, they need to be gradually acclimatized. Just open a window and let the room they're in be cooler for a week, then move them outdoors to the barn.

Remember, you only need to heat one spot in a pen, not the whole room in the barn.

 

[BigGreyFarm]

From the beginning of the second week, you want to be helping your chicks to wean themselves off heat by decreasing the temperature directly beneath the heat source by five degrees each week.

The rest if their brooder can be much cooler, in fact, the cooler the better. But if they haven't been experiencing very cool temps from the start, they need to be gradually acclimatized. Just open a window and let the room they're in be cooler for a week, then move them outdoors to the barn.

Remember, you only need to heat one spot in a pen, not the whole room in the barn.

Thanks !
So I can turn the temperature off in my tack room, then just rely on the heater in the one corner of their box. I was so worried they would get cold !
It is supposed to be 22 degrees this weekend and sunny, do you think I should bring them outside to play in a larger pen for a few hours? Then back in their box for bed time ?