Chicks not sleeping under heat plate.

Mama_in_the_Dell

Songster
5 Years
Sep 22, 2018
265
458
176
Senoia
I have two sets of chicks about 2-2.5 weeks apart. The youngest are now a week old and I had gotten a larger brooder setup so I decided to try to combined them. To my surprise they really combine quite successfully with the older chicks. The problem is the older chicks do not want to sleep under the heat plate and at their age they don’t really need to. So they pile into a corner and the babies follow their lead and join them. However, I’m worried this may not be enough heat for the babies. I’ve got some options I’m considering. It’s currently reading 74F in the house though my hydrometer/thermometer read 69F around where they slept.

1) I can let them be, knowing they are getting some warmth from the huddle and can go under the heat if cold (assuming they are smart enough to do that.)
2) I can separate them again even if it’s just for the night.
3) I have two heat plates in there. I can set one of the plates up as a heater that will add warmth to where they are choosing to sleep

What would you do? Normally I have them in a smaller enclosure in a warmer room so they stay warm enough even if they don’t sleep under the plate so I’ve never had to worry about this.

This is the new enclosure. I cover it at night. The circled area is where they are huddling to sleep.
 

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Maybe try seperating just at night and see if the youngers gravitate towards the heat plate when not around the olders for a night or two to get your answer? I mix ages as well once around a week old. I save my single heat plate for the youngest I have and use a heat lamp for the olders who can move around effortlessly and to their comfort.
 
If nobody's making distress noises and they're going to sleep I wouldn't worry about it too much. I had one big group of 9 that - even raised in the coop in some lower temperatures - would do the puppy pile thing away from the heat at night. I always found some of them back under the heat plate early in the AM - I liken it to camping. They're cozy in their sleeping bag next to their buddies, then they get up, eat, drink, poop and then they want another warm spot- so I'd leave the heating options in there. As long as you can hear what's going on and there's no peep of despair, I would leave it alone. Especially since they integrated so well.
 
Mine end roosting on top of my “ heat plate”. I have a cardboard box with a heating pad on top ( I cut a hole in the top of the box for the heat to go through) and have a towel on top of that.
 

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I have two sets of chicks about 2-2.5 weeks apart. The youngest are now a week old and I had gotten a larger brooder setup so I decided to try to combined them. To my surprise they really combine quite successfully with the older chicks. The problem is the older chicks do not want to sleep under the heat plate and at their age they don’t really need to. So they pile into a corner and the babies follow their lead and join them. However, I’m worried this may not be enough heat for the babies. I’ve got some options I’m considering. It’s currently reading 74F in the house though my hydrometer/thermometer read 69F around where they slept.

1) I can let them be, knowing they are getting some warmth from the huddle and can go under the heat if cold (assuming they are smart enough to do that.)
2) I can separate them again even if it’s just for the night.
3) I have two heat plates in there. I can set one of the plates up as a heater that will add warmth to where they are choosing to sleep

What would you do? Normally I have them in a smaller enclosure in a warmer room so they stay warm enough even if they don’t sleep under the plate so I’ve never had to worry about this.

This is the new enclosure. I cover it at night. The circled area is where they are huddling to sleep.
Chicks get overheated and go back and forth. The bulb or whatever heat source should be away from an area where they can escape to heat when they need to.
 
Maybe try seperating just at night and see if the youngers gravitate towards the heat plate when not around the olders for a night or two to get your answer? I mix ages as well once around a week old. I save my single heat plate for the youngest I have and use a heat lamp for the olders who can move around effortlessly and to their comfort.
I moved my 3 weeks olds out side to an extra large dog crate with a halogen bulb, They are almost fully feathered. Now my other week olds and 3 day olds are under the heat plate, I did raise one side of the legs higher than the other, to accommodate both ages.
 
Would seem more natural to leave everything as is. Mine do the same. They’ll pile in one corner, and then head on over beneath the heating lamp when they get cold.
I find chickens to be a bit eccentric in nature in comparison to some other feathered friends. They have odd behavior sometimes, that really seems outside the realms of “normality”.
But worry not! I think they know what they’re doing. . . . even when we think they don’t.
I personally think it would be a problem if the chickens froze to death without seeking beneath the lamp, because something more than likely, physiologically would be wrong! Something as In homeostasis and “not knowing or feeling their own body temperature internally.”
There’s probably some name for such a condition, but I’m not familiar with it, nor am I a vet.
Be well,
Ducklingguy 🦆
 
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