Heat plate for day old chicks

[LazyOakes]

I purchased chicks from Cackle hatchery and had planned on having them be raised by my broody hen. Unfortunately, she violently rejected them and I am left to raise the babies now. I have always had broodies raise chicks for me so this is new territory. The instructions from Cackle said not to use a heat plate for the first week. Is this necessary? I am nervous about using a heat lamp (though that is what I have on them now and it is secured well), and I am having trouble regulating the temperature because it is summer and they are in a small room - the whole room is getting quite warm. I have had them for 3 days now, can I move them to the heat plate a little early? Thanks for your input!

 

[nuthatched]

They advise against a heat plate because it doesn't heat up the whole area, just a spot and chicks can get too cold if they wander away from the heat plate.

 

[Captain13]

My chicks were 3 days old when I got them from the hatchery. All I used was heat plates. One store bought and one homemade from a heating pad. The 3 day old chicks would go under to sleep or when they were cold. If they got too warm, they would come out. They did fine, all eight started laying three weeks ago.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

You could probably use a heat plate with no issues. I received 8 chicks in the mail and brooded them with a heat plate from day 1 (they were actually 2 days old when I got them because of travel time...). I just stuck them all under the heat plate and once they knew where it was, they would go in and out as needed (just like they do with mama hen).

I think the trick is to make sure the brooder space is somewhat small at first, so the chicks are never too far from the plate - food, water, and plate are all fairly close to each other, so they don't have to wander too far from the heat and can easily find their way back to the heat. After a few days or a week, you could increase the size of the brooder and they'll still know where the heat source is. I brooded my chicks in an 8x8 tent (indoors), but I partitioned off a small corner of it with cardboard for the first 5 days or so, until the chicks could easily find heat, food, and water. After that, I opened up the entire 8x8 space and they did great!

**the brown mat is a heat mat that I used in addition to the brooder plate, they loved that too!

 

[Captain13]

Good idea on the heat mat. I used one as well and they liked to lay on it. When I got my chicks we were still seeing temps in the 30s at night so I was scrambling to keep the chicks warm.