chicks

[Charlie Mack]

I keep a light on my chicks, but is there a certain temp that should be maintained? I think it got too hot in my barn during the day(light off) and so far 3 of my six chicks have died. I am new at this and sure hate to start out like this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thx...

 

[chickenbythesea]

you will need a lamp when they're first hatched... the light should be low enough for them to huddle under but high enough that they're not panting. Also, there should be enough room in the brooder/coop so that they can get away from the heat. I don't know what the daily temperatures are like but it sounds like it's already too hot during the day. Maybe you only need the light on at night if the temp drops. I know what we do is: when we get the day olds the lamp is only about a foot off the bottom of the coop. Each week we raise the lamp up about an inch. With summer sometimes it goes quicker depending on how the chicks are reacting to the weather outside. Basically, if they're laying with their wings out and panting it's too hot... if they're huddled right under the lamp in a dog pile it's too cold. Hope this helps

 

[PulletSurpriseWinner]

Chickensbythesea posted some excellent advice. We lost our thermometer on day 4 with our chicks, but never needed it. We gave them plenty of room in the brooder and set the lamp about a foot up. The chicks let us know if they were warm or cold by either clustering right under the lamp or spreading WAY out.

 

[hen101]

make sure they are not to many and they have stuff to hide under make sure it is not on to cold

 

[hen101]

make sure they have plenty of room

 

[hen101]

also should be low enough so they can huddle under to keep warm

 

[hen101]

and if they were panting it was to hot so keep in between and it should work