Chicks wont stay ubder heat pad?????? Help!

[Chickens_4life123]

I just hatched 9 chicks and i moved them to their brooder today and some wont stay under the heat pad?? I also have a heat lamp setup but it only warms to about 76f on the floor. How do I get the chicks to stay under the pad? It gets to 39 f at night and im worried about them.

 

[Debbie292d]

These are like day or two old chicks?

By heating pad, do you mean a momma heating pad?

They should go under themselves unless they are just hours old and don't have the energy. They can't regulate themselves yet to know if they are too warm but they surely should know they are cold and go under there.

 

[MROO]

I just hatched 9 chicks and i moved them to their brooder today and some wont stay under the heat pad?? I also have a heat lamp setup but it only warms to about 76f on the floor. How do I get the chicks to stay under the pad? It gets to 39 f at night and im worried about them.

If these are brand new babies, they need higher heat than 76 deg. You can try lowering your heat source a bit. If they're starting to feather out, even just a bit, they'll move in and out from it according to their own needs.

 

[kattabelly]

Are they acting like they're cold? Standing all hunched up, huddling really close together, making peeping noises that sound distressed?

I'm not sure what type of heat pad you're using, or how it's set up. If there's only a small gap between the floor and the pad, they might need to be pushed through it a few times until they get the idea. I have to do that sometimes with my heat plate, when it's set very low down for brand new chicks.

If they aren't acting like they're cold, it might be that they're mostly ok huddling together under the lamp and only need extra heat for short periods. I've had a few chicks that would sleep with most of their body sticking out from under the heat plate, or even up on top of it, from a day old at temperatures in the high 60s.