How warm?

[catdance62]

I am trying to figure out when to order my first batch of chicks. I live in Zone 8 and we usually get our last freeze no later than the end of March. I was thinking of getting my chicks in April, but we still might have some cool days. I do not have electricity out where the chicken coop will be (but I do have water!) so I can't put up a brooder. Should I wait until the end of April to make sure it is good and warm??

 

[justusnak]

Baby chicks need to be at 95 degrees for the first week....then drop the temp by 5 degrees a week, untill they are at outside temps. Can you brood them in your house/garage? They really need the heat, or they will pile up, suffocateing a few....or get a chill and die.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Day old chicks require a heat lamp until they fully feather out at at 9 or 10 weeks in a brooder box and then can still chill if not provided with a heat source if the weather stay cool at night.....

Most keep theirs in the house/ garage/ barn where a heat lamp can be provided before moving them out.....

 

[catdance62]

Yes, I can put them in the garage for a while at first. Or, I can make a movable coop and have them near the house where I can provide electricity first and then move them out to where they will live permanently when they are old enough.
I remember years ago I worked on a chicken farm (broiler houses, 16K chickens/house) and when the babies came we lowered the brooders at almost every time of year except in the HEAT of summer. Then we just kept the curtains up for the first few days. This was in SW Arkansas.