I've never raised chicks during the winter time. Would the chicks be warm enough in a brooder in an unheated pole building? I'm thinking that with a towel on the top to capture the heat they should be good. Here it gets down to the mid 20's at night then heats up during the day. Thanks
You won't really know the answer til you set it up with its heat source and check the temp as it will be used. It certainly can be done, but they need to be able to move toward or away from the heat source as the outdoor temp rises and falls. In "the good old days," people brooded all chicks outdoors, typically in a barn, and not just in hot weather.
OP I'm facing the same concern. I have a few now that are feathered out and will be moving outside into a small coop where I can put a heat lamp. The chicks under 2 weeks I am moving to the basement for the winter. As flock watcher said, I won't know if it works until I try it. WHen 25 2 -month olds went out in April, they needed TWO 250Watt heat lamps to adapt to the cold. I started with one, and they were too cold.
I put 9 out of the hatcher into the brooder yesterday - now my brooder is 'handbuilt' and has no theromostat just a 100 watt light bulb . the closed in area is 2 ft x 1ft with a wire floor that I covered with cardboard . to make a long story short I grabbed the chicks up and put them back into the hatcher at 9:00 last nite and still lost 3 , ant the outside temp was only about 36 . will build a better brooder today >
Quote:What kind of brooder do you have? Is it wood, a plastic tub, cardboard box, etc? If you have something draft-proof, like a wooden crate or plastic tub, they will probably be okay. Be careful with covering the top with a towel. If you're using a heat bulb, it can be enough to singe the towel fibers or even get it ablaze. If you're in a draft-free pole barn that has sides, you would probably be better off covering the top with a wire screen or chicken wire on a frame. It would keep any marauding predators out and you wouldn't run the risk of accidentally catching your brooder on fire.
I'm in the same boat! I'll be brooding chicks starting next week! I have a plan to keep them in my garage - in a raised garden bed (aka wooden box that's open on the bottom) that will have a heatlamp suspended from the top. I'm thinking to cover the cold cement floor, either cardboard and a mylar blanket for heat reflection and some pine shavings or....something. Any better ideas?
