Chicks too hot??

[Chickchix]

My 4 day old girls seem to be avoiding the heat lamp like the plague. I raised the lamp, so it's 88 degrees below it, but they're still off in the corners. Is it possible the little peeps are really warm? I always heard the temp is supposed to be 95-100 for the first week. I put some pictures below that show the brooder, and the light shining in it. PLEASE HELP!!

 

[Katy]

Raise it up somemore and see how they react. I go more by how they're acting than what the thermometer says.

 

[SeaChick]

Alisa-
Is it possible that the thermometer is not accurate? We've got ours about 94 under the light and they're ranging everywhere about the brooder. They tend to sleep near the light though, which to me indicates that its the right temp for them. If they're avoiding the light, it definitely sounds like its too warm. (ours got a little warm last night -must not have been as cold in the house- and was about 100 right under the light when we came down this morning...and they were all piled on the far, cooler end to avoid the heat.)
Stacey

 

[Chickchix]

I think you're both right. Just gonna do away with the thermometer so I don't obsess. Chicks will tell me what they want....Boy will they!! Had two peeping indignantly at the brooder wall last night - I think they just wanted attention. Picked one up, and she fell asleep in my hand.

Okay, I'm going to go say hello to them and then get on with my day....yeah right!

 

[seafood]

Same thing happening with me. I had 2 thermometers set at 95 degrees and they wouldnt go near the light.

I have had some people tell me YOU MUST HAVE BROODER AT 95. Well, I am calling BS. From now on I am going to do what the chicks tell me.

They are all eating, drinking, perching, and seem very healthy. If the thermometer reads 88 and they seem happy, then I am sticking with that.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

We didn't even use a thermometer. We just set the light up and felt under it with our hands. It seemed fine and we turned the chicks in. They seemed to think it was okay too! The only chicks we lost were two turkey ones to some prediator.

 

[Cetawin]

Let the chicks somewhat tell you. they know when they are too hot. I had to raise my heat lamp because the girls ran away from it at 95 degrees...they are happy with it around 88 - 90.

Good luck with them.

 

[silkiechicken]

I too don't use a thermometer. Best of luck with your chicks!!!

 

[GwenFarms]

When you use these smaller, compactly enclosed containers as brooders the entire area heats up to a high temp. My brooder is on the barn floor, I have a draft shield about 12 feet around made out of card board boxes. I then have two red lights hanging from the rafters. One is about a foot and a half off the floor, the other about two now. All of the area around this is cooler. It gets gradually cooler the farther away from the light you go. They tend to stay evenly spaced all over the brooder. You'll see some under the lights and others as far away as they can get. They are able to regulate their own temperature without any help from me. If one gets chilled he gets under the light, if one is too hot he gets close to the wall. I've raised several large batches of chicks like this with few losses, not due to temp. I've had 52 in this brooder for almost 2 weeks now without a single loss. I know this isn't practical when you are only raise a few chicks, but if there is a way to simulate this on a smaller scale I think it work better. Maybe if you used a smaller light. I've seen those reptile lights that are smaller for this size habitat. It might give you more cooler areas.

 

[Chickchix]

Man, you guys are awesome. I raised the light (it's a 250watt red bulb) and the temp is 85-90. There's still no one right under the light, but they're all evenly spaced at the periphery. Sometimes, it's good to listed to our intuition, isn't it?? I'll let them tell me what to do - they probably know better than my Wal-Mart thermometer!