Chicks less than a day old and seem cold under the heating plate

[emilythestrange]

Hi I woke up this morning to 9 chicks and 1 on the way
3 more are chipping.
The 10 chicks we have moved into a cardboard long brooder box and put in the heating plate I purchased
It feels warm to the touch
The chicks are huddling underneath it alot
They look cold and I don’t know what to do now? It doesn’t look like you can adjust the heat settings. Just the height of the heating plate.

also what type of water drinker should I get? I have a few but worried about them drowning

 

[TooCheep]

Do you have a thermometer that you can put under there to check the actual temperature? Huddling indicates that it is too cold. Possibly the heating plate is too high?

As for waterer for young chicks, make sure it is something that they can't slip in and drown. I use a small dish and put rounded pebbles in it. They can drink from the dish, but if they fall in, the will land on the pebbles.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is the heat plate adjusted to be lower on one side, higher on the other? They need to be able to make contact with it to optimally warm up, so by having it set at an angle it lets them decide where to best stand/sit in order to stay warm.