Heating chicks Question?

[SlimPickens74]

So , I have 28 chicks in my sun room. If my heat is on, and its very warm, do I still need a heat lamp? seems real hot in there. Water gets warm etc. Water is away from lamp. The chicks hardly lay under the light. Actually , they move away. I hate keeping them under constant light. The brooder is in our home in its own room? Any info would be amazing.
Be well.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Rule of thumb is 90°first week and then decrease 5°every week until 4 weeks. They do not need the light they need the warmth. So determine how warm it is in there without a light and you will have a good idea.

 

[azygous]

Here's what you need to understand about chicks and heat.

Primarily and most important, they need two zones of differing temperature. One zone is the heat zone and it needs to be a temperature in accordance with chicks age and feather development: 85-95F the first week, and decreasing approximately five degrees each week.

The second zone is the cool zone, and this is every bit as critical to chicks healthy development and well being as the heat zone. This cool zone should be as large as possible to afford all chicks the opportunity to cool down, thus self regulating their body temperature. It should be a good ten to twenty degrees cooler than the heat zone.

In a room or even a tropical climate with very warm ambient temperatures, the chicks could be in trouble due to no way to create that second zone - the "cool down" areas. You may not need a heat lamp if the ambient temp is 80-90F degrees, but the chicks lack a cool zone. There are chicks raised in these ranges of ambient temps, but they feather out ever so much slower than chicks who have access to cool temps.

Think of it like people warming around a bonfire but there's a huge crowd preventing free movement. The fire puts off a lot of heat, and if you were to remain in near proximity to it because of a huge crowd, there's no way for you to get away to a cooler area to cool off, and the result would be heat stroke. This is what happens to baby chicks when the brooder is too small and it has too many chicks so that no chick can get away from the heat. Chicks go into heat stress and die.

So, a very warm room is going to be a problem, especially if you also have a heat lamp. You may be able to do without the heat lamp, but how will you create that second zone that the chicks need every bit as much?

 

[BaileyMChicks]

Hi I was wondering if it's too cold for my chicks. They are about 2 months, one a bit older, and they were getting too big for their brooder, so I put them in a little two-hen coop with a little attached run in a pony stall in our barn. My comcern is that the barn stays around 40 degrees(roughly) this time of the year, and I have a heat lamp and a heat pad, and there are 6 of them, but they are all crowded around the light and heat pad....Should I add another heat lamp?

 

[SlimPickens74]

Here's what you need to understand about chicks and heat.

Primarily and most important, they need two zones of differing temperature. One zone is the heat zone and it needs to be a temperature in accordance with chicks age and feather development: 85-95F the first week, and decreasing approximately five degrees each week.

The second zone is the cool zone, and this is every bit as critical to chicks healthy development and well being as the heat zone. This cool zone should be as large as possible to afford all chicks the opportunity to cool down, thus self regulating their body temperature. It should be a good ten to twenty degrees cooler than the heat zone.

In a room or even a tropical climate with very warm ambient temperatures, the chicks could be in trouble due to no way to create that second zone - the "cool down" areas. You may not need a heat lamp if the ambient temp is 80-90F degrees, but the chicks lack a cool zone. There are chicks raised in these ranges of ambient temps, but they feather out ever so much slower than chicks who have access to cool temps.

Think of it like people warming around a bonfire but there's a huge crowd preventing free movement. The fire puts off a lot of heat, and if you were to remain in near proximity to it because of a huge crowd, there's no way for you to get away to a cooler area to cool off, and the result would be heat stroke. This is what happens to baby chicks when the brooder is too small and it has too many chicks so that no chick can get away from the heat. Chicks go into heat stress and die.

So, a very warm room is going to be a problem, especially if you also have a heat lamp. You may be able to do without the heat lamp, but how will you create that second zone that the chicks need every bit as much?

Thank you so very much ! i sorta thought that. I have 28 peeps in a 8x6 brooder. Is that sufficient? or should i extend it? Thanks again, for answering .

 

[azygous]

At two months of age, these chickens should already be weaned off heat of any kind. By keeping them in a heated coop without ever weaning them, it affects feather development and quality of those feathers, just as it would mammals and coat development to insulate against cold temps. They need those cold temperatures to grow the quality of feathers or fur necessary for proper insulation.

Extremely important, you need to make sure the coop isn't beset with cold drafts, but still provide proper ventilation above where the chickens congregate. Then you need to decrease the heat, not add to it.

Slowly decrease the amount of heat over several days until you observe the chickens sleeping comfortably and not in a close huddle. Preferably, they will be roosting on a perch and not huddling in a pile. Then remove the heat all together. For good.

 

[azygous]

Your 8x6 brooder should be adequate for the first three or four weeks, but if you already have a coop, why not just move the whole brood into it in a couple weeks?

There is no law that dictates you must brood chicks indoors in a box. See my article on outdoor brooding linked below under "Articles by azygous". Brooding in your coop could solve all the issues with hot zones and cool zones.

 

[SlimPickens74]

Your 8x6 brooder should be adequate for the first three or four weeks, but if you already have a coop, why not just move the whole brood into it in a couple weeks?

There is no law that dictates you must brood chicks indoors in a box. See my article on outdoor brooding linked below under "Articles by azygous". Brooding in your coop could solve all the issues with hot zones and cool zones.

They are a week old. I had read on here about 3 to 4 weeks. Believe me. When the time comes, they are out! I was scared of fire in the coop.
Never heard of heating pads in such ,until today.
I was just out in CO for over a month. I have family and friends in a town called Nederland. Great area. 40 miles from Denver
If you are ever out that way, over by El Dora , there is an amazing Diner called "Sundance." AMAZING breakfast .
I will be checking you articles out. Maybe I wont have to ask silly questions if I read
Thank you for the help. Be well.