day-olds arriving end of august!

[lauriruth]

do i really need a brooder in San Antonio, TX. it will be in the 90's during the day and 80's at night through Sept. will my babies be ok in the ark, in the shade with plenty of water/food?

 

[Bloomer]

Congratulations on the future arrival of your chicks!

I would still use a brooder. We live in North Texas, and our very first summer with chicks, we tried to keep the 3 BO's we bought from the feed store outside as it was warm enough. However the very first night they were out, they got eaten by a predator (snake or rat I believe).

We are looking forward to chicks at the end of September. Hopefully it will stay warm enough in time for them to be ready to go out a few weeks from then.


Bloomer

 

[onedozenphyllises]

I would agree. I'm in north/central Texas, myself, and we use a brooder, we just don't use the heat lamp very much. I got a new batch of babies yesterday, and we're keeping the light on at night but off during the day - we find they actually get too hot. But they are very vulnerable at this stage (to predators, inclement weather, etc.). We keep ours in the brooder for about two weeks indoors, then they go into a barn brooder for another couple of weeks without any supplemental heat. We move them outside at 4 to 5 weeks if the weather is very warm, but watch for rain, as it can still really chill them when they're not fully feathered.

Just watch them - you'll know if they're too cold (they'll be all piled up) or too hot (panting!).