Do i really need a heat lamp?

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have never kept my chicks any higher than 90F. I don't measure the heat any longer - because I use EcoGlows, but this is what I did when I used heat lamps. However, at 3 weeks they are completely off heat here. If I go by what you say, they should be at 80F at week 3. They are at 70F, and around 50 at night.

I've raised roughly 200 chicks this year. I've hatched 1500.

I am not sure where everyone gets this 95F temp. I have always been told 90 or whatever they seem comfortable at. There is no magic number. Monitor them. If they seem cold, add more heat. If they seem hot, take it away.

My chickens are Canadian. 85-90F seems where they are the most comfortable at a day old. 80-85F for week olds. 70-80 for two week olds, and by 3 weeks they don't have anything in the summer.

Chicks aren't as delicate as they are made out.


This pic is taken February 22nd 2013. These chicks were roughly 6 weeks old. I hardened them off in the basement by leaving the window open. They were out without any heat in freezing temps. All are adults now. They do just fine. The EcoGlows were removed when they were 4 weeks.

Agree - other than I don't have an EcoGlow

 

[Gayleyy]

I have never kept my chicks any higher than 90F. I don't measure the heat any longer - because I use EcoGlows, but this is what I did when I used heat lamps. However, at 3 weeks they are completely off heat here. If I go by what you say, they should be at 80F at week 3. They are at 70F, and around 50 at night.

I've raised roughly 200 chicks this year. I've hatched 1500.

I am not sure where everyone gets this 95F temp. I have always been told 90 or whatever they seem comfortable at. There is no magic number. Monitor them. If they seem cold, add more heat. If they seem hot, take it away.

My chickens are Canadian. 85-90F seems where they are the most comfortable at a day old. 80-85F for week olds. 70-80 for two week olds, and by 3 weeks they don't have anything in the summer.

Chicks aren't as delicate as they are made out.


This pic is taken February 22nd 2013. These chicks were roughly 6 weeks old. I hardened them off in the basement by leaving the window open. They were out without any heat in freezing temps. All are adults now. They do just fine. The EcoGlows were removed when they were 4 weeks.

I got those numbers from different e-books and websites when I first got chicks. So that is what i have always stuck to. It is pretty hot and humid here so it works out well for us, by the time they go outside it is always in 80s or 90s. I suppose people probably have many views on how warm to keep chicks, but this is what I have always done. I have heard those EcoGlows are great, I am thinking about getting one for the next time.

 

[farmerjohn65]

Ok lets do some math hatch 1500 raise 200 thats 1 of every 7.5 survived cant aford those losses

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Ok lets do some math hatch 1500 raise 200 thats 1 of every 7.5 survived cant aford those losses

I read that as having hatched 1500 total over a period of years - and having raised 200 THIS year -- OR -- as having hatched 1500 and sold all but the 200 that was kept to be raised by that poster, nowhere in there did the poster indicate any sort of loss rate even close to approaching that.

 

[donrae]

I read that as having hatched 1500 total over a period of years - and having raised 200 THIS year -- OR -- as having hatched 1500 and sold all but the 200 that was kept to be raised by that poster, nowhere in there did the poster indicate any sort of loss rate even close to approaching that.

Exactly.

 

[Demidog]

Not with 30 degree heat at 10 days. They will be fine without any heat. At night you may want to take the edge off if it goes down bellow 20.

We are talking Celsius I assume.

Yes Celsius! It doesn't go below 24 C (75 F) at night inside the house now. And it's to get hotter. I can put them outside during the day, it's well over 30 C ( 86 F).

 

[Demidog]

I have never kept my chicks any higher than 90F. I don't measure the heat any longer - because I use EcoGlows, but this is what I did when I used heat lamps. However, at 3 weeks they are completely off heat here. If I go by what you say, they should be at 80F at week 3. They are at 70F, and around 50 at night.

I've raised roughly 200 chicks this year. I've hatched 1500.

I am not sure where everyone gets this 95F temp. I have always been told 90 or whatever they seem comfortable at. There is no magic number. Monitor them. If they seem cold, add more heat. If they seem hot, take it away.

My chickens are Canadian. 85-90F seems where they are the most comfortable at a day old. 80-85F for week olds. 70-80 for two week olds, and by 3 weeks they don't have anything in the summer.

Chicks aren't as delicate as they are made out.


This pic is taken February 22nd 2013. These chicks were roughly 6 weeks old. I hardened them off in the basement by leaving the window open. They were out without any heat in freezing temps. All are adults now. They do just fine. The EcoGlows were removed when they were 4 weeks.

Mine are around 80F at 10 days old, about same as yours. I think they look fine. Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

25 degrees C = 77 degrees F
30 degrees C = 86 degrees F

That rule of thumb, (90, 95 or 100 degrees F choose whichever starting point you want) and drop it by 5 degrees F a week is extremely conservative. It is intended to keep most people out of serious trouble no matter how lousy a brooder they have or how rough the conditions. Like most rules of thumb, it is overkill for the majority of us. In my opinion the higher range is dangerous, especially if you try to keep the entire brooder that warm. If you keep one area in that range but provide enough room for them to get away to a cooler area, it tremendously reduces the danger of them overheating.

I’ve observed broody hens with chicks. I’ve seen things related to heat and cool that many people on here would think the chick had to have died. It did not. It is possible for chicks to get too cool and die, but they are not nearly as delicate as that rule of thumb implies.

In a brooder, I watch my chicks and let them tell me what to do. In the winter I have left heat on day and night for 5 weeks. In a ridiculous heat wave a couple of summers back I turned daytime heat off at 2 days and nighttime heat off at 5 days. This is in a brooder in the coop, not in the house with climate control.

In fall, I have had chicks go through nights with a low of around 45 F (7 C) at five weeks old without supplemental heat. I’ve had chicks go through a night with a low of 25 F (-4 C) before they were 6 weeks old. This was in a coop with very good draft protection but with good overhead ventilation. The chicks were also acclimated, used to colder temperatures in their brooder before they went through this.

I understand you are probably very new to chickens, but it sounds like your father-in-law has experience. I suggest you follow his advice and see how the chicks act. If they act fine, they are. If not, then a low level of heat may be required. But be sure to give them room to get away from the heat if it is too warm.

 

[aoxa]

Ok lets do some math hatch 1500 raise 200 thats 1 of every 7.5 survived cant aford those losses

I sold the rest.

 

[aoxa]

I read that as having hatched 1500 total over a period of years - and having raised 200 THIS year -- OR -- as having hatched 1500 and sold all but the 200 that was kept to be raised by that poster, nowhere in there did the poster indicate any sort of loss rate even close to approaching that.

Exactly.

Thanks guys. Yeah, I don't think I'd be bragging about that. I sold the rest.

I don't even include culls in that total.