Excited to get my first chicks!

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DobieLover said:
It is a potentially deadly condition in chicks that is caused by stress, usually overheating stress, such that their poop crusts up on their vent blocking it shut. When they are brooded outside in ambient temperatures with lots of ventilation and fresh air and just a brooder plate for a heat source, which much more closely replicates a hen, the instances of pasty butt are pretty much eliminated.
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Ok…it’s still about 86 degrees here and the nights are mid 70’s. I have a back porch that is covered and I have a heat plate. I think I’ll try them outside. I can always bring them in if it gets too hot or cold.

But…should I put the heat plate on during the day or is that too much for them?
 
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as long as they have space to get away from the heat when they want to, they can go under it or not go under it their choice.
 
JanetRN1 said:
But…should I put the heat plate on during the day or is that too much for them?
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New chicks need access to 95 degrees the first week.
Leave the plate on. It will replace the heat of the mother hen.

Reduce the heat, by raising the plate a bit every week as they grow.
I think. As long as they have a place to get away from it if they over heat.
 
JanetRN1 said:
Ok…it’s still about 86 degrees here and the nights are mid 70’s. I have a back porch that is covered and I have a heat plate. I think I’ll try them outside. I can always bring them in if it gets too hot or cold.

But…should I put the heat plate on during the day or is that too much for them?
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This is a guideline I follow for the first few days. After that, I take it by ear. If they are all huddled up, shivering, they may be cold. If they are all spread out, panting, they may be hot. Every hatch or batch of chickens is different.

chicks outside temp.jpg
 
JanetRN1 said:
But…should I put the heat plate on during the day or is that too much for them?
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I would unplug it then plug it back in about an hour before it's time for them to go back to roost for the night.

I just raised a batch of chicks outside when we were getting temperatures down into the 60s at night when they were 3 weeks old and they wouldn't go under the plate. They would just huddle together in a corner of their brooder, built in my coop, and we're just fine.

There's nothing wrong with guidelines but I personally find them to be a bit restrictive and often times completely unattainable. I've watched many a week old chick wandering around outside in 40° weather with their mother where they would dart under her whenever they got chilled.
 
DobieLover said:
I would unplug it then plug it back in about an hour before it's time for them to go back to roost for the night.

I just raised a batch of chicks outside when we were getting temperatures down into the 60s at night when they were 3 weeks old and they wouldn't go under the plate. They would just huddle together in a corner of their brooder, built in my coop, and we're just fine.

There's nothing wrong with guidelines but I personally find them to be a bit restrictive and often times completely unattainable. I've watched many a week old chick wandering around outside in 40° weather with their mother where they would dart under her whenever they got chilled.
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Thank you!!
 
Debbie292d said:
Hiya, and welcome to BYC! :frow

I do like @Tookie and start them out indoors. I keep them in about two weeks, to keep an eye on them. It also depends on the time of year, as they have to be a few weeks old before they can go out in a grow-out pen. We use flat panel radiant heaters in those (Cozy Coop) if it's too cold for them.

Right now, one about 10 days old is inside in the brooder indefinitely as it has had a pasty butt twice, raised outdoors by two hens. :confused: Their other five are fine, so this one's just got issues, and I have to keep a better watch on it.
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I will look that up. Best to know what to look for! And then what do you do for it? I’m gonna be checking little chick butts all day 😂😂
 

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