Heat lamps for newly hatched chicks - advice please!

[soloequestrian]

Eggs are in the incubator, now on Day 4. In the meantime I need to get the brooder set up in the hope that I manage to hatch some of them! I've only hatched under a hen before so this is new to me. I have the coop that has been the creche area for the last two hatches and I'd like to put the babies straight out there once they are out of the incubator. I've been given two heat lamps - both Philips infraphil red lamps, one is 150W and the other 100W. I'm not quite sure how to set these up so they keep an area of the coop warm so looking for advice. The floor area of the coop is around 90cm x 90cm and it's probably about 90cm high in the centre too. I'm in Scotland so temperatures can still get quite low at night but never get all that warm in the day - around 20C (68F) is a really warm day here! I'm wondering about having something for the chicks to snuggle into - I read somewhere about using a mop head....? Thanks in advance!

 

[Peppercorngal]

How many chicks are you going to have? You have to have a big enough brooder so the chicks can sit under the heat lamp if they want warmth but can move out of the light to cool off too. Is 90cm about 3 feet? (I'm in the US!) That is a little small for them to get out of the light. My newest brooder (husband made it) is 5ft or 155cm. I put the light in the middle and food and water on the ends. They can easily get away from the heat! If they can't get out of the heat they could die. Hope this helps. Here in California the chicks only need heat (this time of year) for about 2 weeks! It's 90°! Good Luck!

 

[soloequestrian]

I think if I put the light at one end they should have room to move away from it. It's in a much bigger secure run so hopefully after the first couple of days they will be able to go outside as well - I'm pretty sure the mums used to have them out and about very quickly after hatching. I'm just not sure what to use inside the brooder - I'm used to them having a hen to snuggle under so just having an open space that's warm seems weird!

 

[Debbie292d]

We use a 100-watt ceramic heat bulb, like for reptiles, on one side. If they are able to come and go within the coop, but the other chickens can't get them, I'd try that.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I also like heating just one end of a brooder, that way the other end is nice and cool and gives them more of a range of temperatures. We have much less pasty butt this way.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree on setting up a heat bulb on one side of the brooder area, then take the temperature on the hot side and cold side and see what they register. You want roughly around 90-95F (32-25C) on the hotter side and at least 10F less (26-30C) on the cooler side. Have food and water on cooler side.

Also no on the mop head, they don't really need anything more than bedding to "snuggle" into. A mop heat sounds like something they could easily get tangled in.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I agree on setting up a heat bulb on one side of the brooder area, then take the temperature on the hot side and cold side and see what they register. You want roughly around 90-95F (32-25C) on the hotter side and at least 10F less (26-30C) on the cooler side. Have food and water on cooler side.

Also no on the mop head, they don't really need anything more than bedding to "snuggle" into. A mop heat sounds like something they could easily get tangled in.

I've read horror stories of disasters involvinf feaather dusters too. They can snuggle with each other.