Chick panting in 92 degree brooder

[Mamma_Duck04]

To keep them cool, you could freeze a half-gallon jug or 1 liter bottle of water, wrap it with a dish towel or pillow case & set that in there for them to stand near. Try the fan over the brooder & see if it helps, might be enough to just get the air moving for them. Adding ice cubes to their waterer too... I have some really cool ice cube cooler packs (like water-filled bubble wrap) that I used at the late end of brood-life for my girls, used to wrap a flour-sack towel over it & lay it under their mini perch so they'd hunker over it when they perched, this did wonders & they learned real fast what those wrapped things were! lol Now they're almost ready to lay & when it's hot out, I'll put frozen gallon jugs in pillow cases & lay them out for them, they perch on them, lay against them, etc.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I wouldn't recommend a fan for chicks. You might try a small bottle of frozen water. I would think they would be okay at 92 degrees, but I'm in Oklahoma and I know Texas is the same, our humidity is horrible. Not sure that has anything to do with it, but I know it makes us that much hotter, so it could affect the chicks I think.

They should be at 95-100 degrees for the first week. I know I leave mine in the hatcher for the first 2 days at almost a 100 degrees and they never pant, it has to be the humidity.

Keep a close eye on them, they could get pasty butt if they are too hot.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Quote:
I was just saying something about frozen bottles, but I never thought to put a pillow case over them. My birds are scared to death of the water bottles and will not go around them, I'll try the pillow cases.

 

[Mamma_Duck04]

I was just saying something about frozen bottles, but I never thought to put a pillow case over them. My birds are scared to death of the water bottles and will not go around them, I'll try the pillow cases.

I wrapped the ice packs just because they were SO COLD when I had to use them in the brooder & wanted them to be close to the girls, vs. hurting them or scaring them & it only took a short time for them to lose interest in the new 'object' & just ignore they were there. Around that time I was reading a ton of posts here about using frozen jugs for cooling & the biggest complaints were that the girls didn't like getting wet, thus the pillow case. I used some junk fabric that's sorta like a light denim in weight, thicker than a normal pillow case & something I don't have to feel bad about using

Just slide the jugs inside, twist & wrap the flap over & lay it down, it keeps the girls from getting wet & provides a cool, damp place for them to lean against or perch on- guess it helps that I'm constantly watering down their run so they're not as squeamish about 'wet' as some seem to be.​

 

[Fred's Hens]

You can freeze milk jugs of water and rotate them in. Obviously the heat is bad everywhere, but Texas has had it the worst.
Fans aren't really required or desired for the drafts, but if the humidity is high down there today and if the "brooder" is a box o tub with little or no air movement, a small fan blowing gently across the top to exchange the air, without creating a stiff breeze, would be a very good thing.

 

[BoltonChicken]

a small fan blowing gently across the top to exchange the air, without creating a stiff breeze, would be a very good thing.

+1. Yes, that is the way to go. Forget the frozen bottles of water. There is a reason that the chicks are afraid of that.​

 

[Campbluebell2020]

Hi all,

I don't use a lamp. The temp hasn't gotten below 90 at night. Should I direct a box fan to blow over the top of the brooder (but not on them) or what's the best way to keep them cooler?

Air conditioning