chicks cold under Brinsea Ecoglow

[caseebeths]

I just started using the brinsea ecoglow 50 for my chicks. I put new chicks in this morning and come home this evening to what appeared to be 2 cold lethargic chicks. I have them in a gqf box brooder with a wire floor. What is your all opinions? ?

 

[ellie32526]

I just started using the brinsea ecoglow 50 for my chicks. I put new chicks in this morning and come home this evening to what appeared to be 2 cold lethargic chicks. I have them in a gqf box brooder with a wire floor. What is your all opinions? ?

I'm not familiar with a gqf brooder and don't know how old your chicks are but I do know the most important thing is to protect young chicks from drafts and to keep them warm enough. I kept my chicks in a cardboard box that my freezer came in for about 8-10 weeks until they outgrew that. The first week I had paper toweling on the floor to absorb the poo, and kept the temp between 90-95. Each week I dropped the temp a little by raising the heat lamp. As long as there is enough room and a source of heat the chicks will tell you whether they are hot or cold. If they are cold they will pile on top of each other to get to the heat. That could result in some getting crushed/killed. If the area is too hot they will cling to the walls. If they are happily scampering around the brooder in chicken like fashion they are warm enough. You can order a green goo called Grogel to feed new chicks. It really helps them to get off to a good start. I got it from Murray when I ordered my chicks. Sorry I can't offer more professional advice, but that is how I did it. My chicks are now a year old and I haven't lost any.

 

[donrae]

What's the ambient temp outside the brooder? How many chicks?

 

[caseebeths]

They are in a basement that stays around 60-65 all the time. Gqf brooder is a universal box brooder with a 1/4 wire floor...it's on GQF website and I use brinsea ecoglow 50 for heat. I may not have had the Ecoglow lowered enough?

 

[ellie32526]

They are in a basement that stays around 60-65 all the time. Gqf brooder is a universal box brooder with a 1/4 wire floor...it's on GQF website and I use brinsea ecoglow 50 for heat. I may not have had the Ecoglow lowered enough?

Sweet! That GQF thing looks pretty high tech next to my cardboard box.

 

[FlufferNutters]

We have an ecoglow 50 as well. I think you probably just didn't have it lowered enough? Especially when they are new, you have to have it low enought that their backs are touching the heat when they are laying down, so really really low!...as they get older they are fine with it being just tall enough to walk under. We always keep ours really low on one side so the little chicks can sleep under it (and won't pile on top of each other), and high on the other side so that they can walk around in the warm area.

 

[caseebeths]

I think you are right. I lowered really low on one side and they have all been great ever since. I also wonder if it matters what they are sitting over such as wire, sand, pine shavings, ect?

 

[henless]

I have a Premier heat plate. I keep one end higher than the other. Mine are in a large box with pine shavings. Maybe since yours are on wire, they could be getting air flow underneath so are not able to keep the warmth around them? Looking at those brooders, looks like they should do ok. Not that much space between the wire and the under tray. You probably just didn't have it low enough.

 

[Cacique500]

We raised ours with an Ecoglow and it did great. For the first week or two we had the ecoglow all the way down, so the chicks would "duck" to go in it. You'll see them put their backs up to the plate. After that we slowly started raising it as they got bigger using wood blocks under the legs. If I remember correctly, the plate doesn't really radiate heat...they need to contact it with their backs.

We also used sand as our bedding so there were no drafts from below.

 

[aart]

I think you are right. I lowered really low on one side and they have all been great ever since. I also wonder if it matters what they are sitting over such as wire, sand, pine shavings, ect?

It might...an open bottom might be letting cool air into the brooder.
Maybe just put a piece of wood or cardboard or even just some paper towel on the floor where the ecoglow is.