Stupid question. When they say that it needs to be 95 degrees in the brooder do they mean the entire thing? 95 degrees in the coldest part? 95 in the warmest part? Also do you offset your heat lamp? Meaning 50% gets heat lamp and the other doesn't?
Exactly that. You only want one end of your brooder heated so the chicks can decide where to go for the amount of warmth they need. Far too often people have the entire brooder heated and too hot at that! Chicks need access to heat when cold but remember they are warm blooded animals and generate their own heat too. I put the water and feed on opposite end of brooder than heat source.
The way I do it, it's the warmest part, and yes, offset. I found some chicks wanted to be much cooler than others. I also found I could never get it quite as warm as the charts say, especially the charts that have 95 degrees in them (some say 90 to start,) as everyone did their best to get away from the heat. Also, if you're going to have them in there for 8 weeks, they should have over 2 sq ft per chick. With enough space, they will probably stay away from the warmest spot after the first week or so.
The kiddie pool is a 2 week solution. I have a giant circular baby gate that will give them about 2.4sq ft per chick.
