How to use heat plate new chicks for this year

[Judykaymayes]

I have having chicks hatch today and I have the heat plate set at 105 degrees how har should I lower the back and the front off the floor these are med to large size chicks.

 

[Percheron chick]

Put a thermometer under the heat plate. Raise or lower the heat plate until you hit 90*. Turn the heat down or raise the plate as they get older. They will tell you if it's too hot or too cold.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I recommend using a radiant heat plate. They are safer for chicks and little risk of fire. The chicks make contact with
the warm (not hot) plate and absorb the heat energy. These plates also warm the bedding under the plate giving little chicks a cozy place to hide out. A thermometer is not necessary with these brooders, but you may wish to keep a thermometer in a corner of the brooder box to measure ambient temp. The surface of the plate is not hot but not cold. Measure the success of the unit by how the chicks behave. Gentle chirps -good.

As for how far off the floor to raise the unit, you can do a hi-low adjustment so that the lowest point is no less than 2 inches between bedding and plate surface. Keep the opposite end about an inch or two higher and let the chicks self-regulate where they wish to go.

Good luck to you.