How can I keep my brooder from reeking

[FathertoFeathers]

I apologize if I was doing this wrong. I was going off of things that I read on this website and others. I was told I shouldn’t put the chicks outside if they were under 6 weeks old and to decrease the heat by five degrees every week. I wasn’t trying to be a bad chick owner I was only trying to do what I thought you were supposed to.

 

[FathertoFeathers]

I apologize if I was doing this wrong. I was going off of things that I read on this website and others. I was told I shouldn’t put the chicks outside if they were under 6 weeks old and to decrease the heat by five degrees every week. I wasn’t trying to be a bad chick owner I was only trying to do what I thought you were supposed to.

My parents also raised baby chicks and they were telling me that my set up was the best way to go about it.

 

[Lizzy733]

yes I am a minor living with my parents. I thought that for week one you kept the temperature at 95 degrees and decreased it by five degrees every week. They aren’t showing any signs of being hot and act fine.

Typically, when hatched by a parent, they would be exposed to colder temperatures from the start and would only get that intense warmth when under their mother and not at any other times. The exposure to cold is a signal for their bodies to get used to that sort of temperature. It's only 66 degrees here, but my 1 week old chicks are only under my broody for nap times. - the rest of the time they are out and about without her providing them any heat. These little ones are little more than wing tips and down at the moment.
This is a big problem with rescue hens and one of the reasons they tend to fare so poorly when moving to an outdoor coop setting; they've been living in climate controlled conditions their entire live and can't cope with the fluctuating temperatures.
Chicks should have a 'spot' in the brooder that can provide that heat, but that should be an isolated corner - the rest should be much cooler. If the heat is there constantly, that's what their bodies will grow accustomed to. Get them used to room temperature, and then gradually cooler areas until they are ready for the outdoor temps. They only need a small area with higher temperatures where they can get a top-up as needed and take naps.

 

[bobbi-j]

No reason to apologize. I’m impressed that you have done research. There are as many ways to raise chickens as there are people raising them. Not everything that works for me in Minnesota will work for you in Tennessee, but some things can work for both.

In my opinion, the “rules” for heat and space are more like guidelines. The best way to know what’s optimal for your birds is to watch them. In regards to temperature, watch to see where they are in the brooder. Huddled under the heat lamp? They’re cold. Scattered to the edges? Too hot. Dispersed throughout the brooder? Probably OK.

If they’re crowded, you may see some behaviors as feather picking, fighting and even cannibalism.

At 3 weeks old, they are likely going to start jumping out of that box soon.

When I brood chicks, I like to give them plenty of space so they can decide if they need to be in heat or out of it. If you’ve ever had a chance to observe baby chicks with a hen, you’ll see that they aren’t under her all the time. They run around, eat, drink and explore, then go back under her to warm for a bit before running around again.

Good luck with your chicks. It’s a fun hobby! (And please keep reaching out. As you can see, there are a lot of people who like to share their opinions and experiences.)

 

[aart]

Lots of stuff out there are older techniques...
...we've learned a lot in the years gone by.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[rosemarythyme]

I personally feel the recommended temperatures are too high, even for week one. My last batch of chicks was raised outdoors from 2 days old, with a heating pad, it was down around 40s at night. No problem for them.

If your coop is draft free and has electricity (or if you can run a cord out there) that really is your best bet. Otherwise, consider using a big cardboard box (such as an appliance box) or tape together a few large boxes to make a bigger enclosure. That'll at least give them more space. Unfortunately as long as they spill food and water plus chicks poop quite often, it's going to be hard to counteract the stink.

 

[DiYMama540]

I apologize if I was doing this wrong. I was going off of things that I read on this website and others. I was told I shouldn’t put the chicks outside if they were under 6 weeks old and to decrease the heat by five degrees every week. I wasn’t trying to be a bad chick owner I was only trying to do what I thought you were supposed to.

No need to apologize! We're all still learning from each other every day! Some lessons you dont want to learn the hard way though- the heat lamp for example.
Christmas tree box was a great idea, BTW!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I use one myself the x-mas tree box makes a great one for 6 to 8 days then up to the Silkie coop I have old style heat lamp but a 40 watt bulb in it and a heating pad with no auto shutoff there is hardware cloth bent in a big upside down U to let them crawl under that last 8 days then cannot handle them inside

 

[PirateGirl]

I think you are doing good so far! Keep the heat at one end of the brooder so they can get out from under it. See if you can find something in your house that will allow you to hang your heat lamp higher so that you can gradually move it up thus reducing the heat, make sure nothing is touching the heat lamp when you do this. I used wire and put a dining chair on each side of the brooder once so I could wire the heat lamp between them. I also wired the light to the extendable arm of a fabric steamer once. Get creative. Another week of adjustment and they will probably be fine in your house without the heat lamp, though they may get vocal and peep a bit when it's totally dark. As others have mentioned, they *can* go outside in the cold, however, they do need to get used to those temps gradually. To help with this you could do short field trips where they can hang out in the coop for a little bit each day. Then you could let them in the run a bit each day, slowly increasing the time they are out there, and then eventually they can go in the coop ALL day and may need to come in your house at night. This all depends on your weather and you should monitor the behavior of the chicks to make sure they seem ok. I just want to give you ideas of ways to help them adjust to the cold slowly! Good luck. You are on the right path.

Also, unfortunately, you may have to just clean the brooder more often for now, chicks can get messy and stinky.

 

[deanabess]

I am currently raising 10 jersey giant chicks who are about three weeks old. Today when I got home from school the brooder smelled bad! How do I keep the brooder smelling good?

We cleaned ours daily and also used Sweet PDZ granular stall refresher
Mixed with ground cinnamon and dried oregano. I didnt measure so maybe a half cup of PDZ, teaspoon each of cinnamon and oregano. Then I mixed it in the fresh bedding. We just scooped out the poop and kept a little fresh on top. It worked really good.