Help! We need Recommendations/Thoughts on these items for chicks?

[ChickenCanoe]

@ChickenCanoe mind if I ask what you do with all those hungry mouths?

Eat and sell.
Now that I only have one breed, I don't do 100 at a time any more but I still use those brooders if it is extremely cold.
Primarily, I now schedule hatchings for shipping as day olds. (scheduled to hatch on a Sunday afternoon/evening) Otherwise I'm always replacing hens with better birds and all cockerels that aren't perfect get eaten.

 

[RoosterML]

Eat and sell.
Now that I only have one breed, I don't do 100 at a time any more but I still use those brooders if it is extremely cold.
Primarily, I now schedule hatchings for shipping as day olds. (scheduled to hatch on a Sunday afternoon/evening) Otherwise I'm always replacing hens with better birds and all cockerels that aren't perfect get eaten.

Nice, what breed do you do?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Nice, what breed do you do?

Penedesenca of the black variety only.
Famous in Spain for the flavor of the meat and the color of the eggs.
They just had the Fair of the Rooster (Fira del Gall) held every year the weekend before Christmas in Villafranca del Penedes. It is a foodie festival featuring all sorts of poultry and the Black Penedesenca is the star of the show. People select their live rooster ($50) to be their Christmas dinner and it is then processed on the spot.
Catalonia is the oldest wine region of Europe.

 

[Little Farm Girl]

She has one more question, lol.
Since we live in East Texas where in the summer the days are 98+ degrees and the nights are 85+ degrees, do the chicks still need a MHP or a premier1 heat plate? Or would they over heat, this year she is planning on hatching them and brooding them until they sell in a little shed we have, but it doesn't like have an a/c unit, so it gets even warmer in there. Last summer, when she moved the chicks out to an outdoor pen, she had to put fans in all her coops, or they would be having heat strokes and stuff(even with plenty of cold water). Especially in the triple digit days.

 

[aart]

She has one more question, lol.
Since we live in East Texas where in the summer the days are 98+ degrees and the nights are 85+ degrees, do the chicks still need a MHP or a premier1 heat plate? Or would they over heat, this year she is planning on hatching them and brooding them until they sell in a little shed we have, but it doesn't like have an a/c unit, so it gets even warmer in there. Last summer, when she moved the chicks out to an outdoor pen, she had to put fans in all her coops, or they would be having heat strokes and stuff(even with plenty of cold water). Especially in the triple digit days.

Ambient temps definite affect how, and how long, to heat chicks.
That's where being able to adjust heat output on pad or plate will help,
some you can adjust, and some you cannot. Changing the height can help there too.
You always give them the choice to be nearer or farther away from a heat source.
They can definitely overheat, chicks maybe more so than older birds.

The shed might need modifying to be a good place for birds.

I'd rather deal with cold than heat.
Huge all day ice cubes, deep shade, and an occasional dose of electrolytes is how I stave off heat stress/stroke here. This ain't TX, but it does get hot and humid enough to threaten birds health...luckily in waves and not constant.

 

[Little Farm Girl]

So you think she maybe Should just lower the temp of the heat plate in the summer?

 

[aart]

So you think she maybe Should just lower the temp of the heat plate in the summer?

Go by behaviors...but, yes, being able to adjust heat is important.

 

[Mosey2003]

I think it would probably be best if possible to offer them a lot of space and options. So, say, make a long somewhat narrow brooder with wire sides and put the heat plate in one end, a gentle fan blowing across the other, and a good bit of area in between. Then you can watch what they choose. For example, if they're all hanging out with the fan, you could place another.

 

[Folly's place]

This is where using a brooder plate really shines; with a heat lamp, it's harder to manage chicks during hot weather. The heat source at one side of the brooder space, and ambient temps elsewhere works very well. Good ventilation and airflow helps in heat too.
Mary