I am having trouble regulating the temperature.

[ThePhoebeFive]

I have eight chicks in a brooder tub out in my shed that is not insulated. I live in South Carolina, and it is unusually cold for April! I have a heat lamp to keep the babies warm. My four black australorps are a couple weeks old so they are fine, but my Golden Comets are maybe four days old. I have the heat lamp as low as I think is safe without them jumping and bumping it or something, but it is not warm enough. Last night it got down into the forties outside. My brooder temp was 81°F this morning, and that was with blankets draped over the brooder to help hold the heat in (they are not even touching the lamp). I need it to be 90 at the lowest. What do I do? My broody hen has her babies out right now and it's 41°. So, should I be concerned for the four-day-old chicks being stuck in 80° "weather"?

 

[azygous]

You don't need to regulate the temperature. It's not a cake you're try to bake. Forty at night is a walk in the park for chicks. As long as they have a spot around 80F to warm under, they will be fine.

Think of their heat source as a campfire to warm by. If you're camping and want a fire to warm yourself, a small fire does as much to warm you as a huge fire, and it's much safer and less likely to hurt your body. What you're really doing is bringing your body temperature back up the normal range, and that's precisely what your chicks use their heat source to do.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

You don't need to regulate the temperature. It's not a cake you're try to bake. Forty at night is a walk in the park for chicks. As long as they have a spot around 80F to warm under, they will be fine.

Think of their heat source as a campfire to warm by. If you're camping and want a fire to warm yourself, a small fire does as much to warm you as a huge fire, and it's much safer and less likely to hurt your body. What you're really doing is bringing your body temperature back up the normal range, and that's precisely what your chicks use their heat source to do.

Even if the Golden Comets are four or five days old? I thought they need to be near 90-95°. I moved them inside temporarily, and they are more active and happy now that it is warmer.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I would go off of their behavior, not temperature. I've always found that my chicks like it 80-90 degrees, even when they're 3 days old. (I hatched some-the first day I kept it at 90-95, but then I raised the lamp. )

If they're huddled, they're too cold.

 

[azygous]

@Lemon-Drop has a good point. Behavior will guide your use of the heat source and how warm it must be.

I've had chicks just a couple days old run around all day in their outdoor brooder without using their heat source when the temp is mid 50s. Likewise, when I brooded indoors, I've had chicks a couple days old go prostrate from overheating until I changed from a red heat lamp to a 100 watt incandescent bulb which lowered the heat "print" to just 80-85F.

How much new chicks use their heat source will depend on how many calories they consume and how warm the ambient temp is. By age one week, the few wing feathers they have sprouted subtracts from their need of heat until at age three weeks, they have feathered out enough where they no longer require heat during the day, even when the ambient temp is very chilly in the high 30s.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

I would go off of their behavior, not temperature. I've always found that my chicks like it 80-90 degrees, even when they're 3 days old. (I hatched some-the first day I kept it at 90-95, but then I raised the lamp. )

If they're huddled, they're too cold.

@Lemon-Drop has a good point. Behavior will guide your use of the heat source and how warm it must be.

I've had chicks just a couple days old run around all day in their outdoor brooder without using their heat source when the temp is mid 50s. Likewise, when I brooded indoors, I've had chicks a couple days old go prostrate from overheating until I changed from a red heat lamp to a 100 watt incandescent bulb which lowered the heat "print" to just 80-85F.

How much new chicks use their heat source will depend on how many calories they consume and how warm the ambient temp is. By age one week, the few wing feathers they have sprouted subtracts from their need of heat until at age three weeks, they have feathered out enough where they no longer require heat during the day, even when the ambient temp is very chilly in the high 30s.

Got it. Thank you both so much. I'll keep them inside for a couple days, then it'll be warmer and I'll try again. I'm wondering if the Comets didn't like the cold because they were not raised in cooler temperatures. (As in, the seller kept them at 95° and so they couldn't handle the sudden drop.) That might be why they couldn't handle 80°. Like I said, now that they are inside (a climate controlled house) the temp is holding steady between 92-93° and they are so much more active then when the temp kept dropping to 80°.
Just because everyone loves little puffs :

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Got it. Thank you both so much. I'll keep them inside for a couple days, then it'll be warmer and I'll try again. I'm wondering if the Comets didn't like the cold because they were not raised in cooler temperatures. (As in, the seller kept them at 95° and so they couldn't handle the sudden drop.) That might be why they couldn't handle 80°. Like I said, now that they are inside (a climate controlled house) the temp is holding steady between 92-93° and they are so much more active then when the temp kept dropping to 80°.
Just because everyone loves little puffs :
View attachment 3069997

Aw, so cute! I would try acclimating them by lowering the temp a degree or two daily until they can handle outdoors.

 

[NatJ]

My brooder temp was 81°F this morning, and that was with blankets draped over the brooder to help hold the heat in (they are not even touching the lamp). I need it to be 90 at the lowest.

Did you measure the temperature directly under the heat lamp?
That's where it should be 90-95 degrees.
The rest of the brooder can be as cold as the weather makes it.

Chicks with a hen can go under her to get warm, and then can go play in the cold until they are ready to warm up again. Chicks with a heat lamp can do the same thing, except they warm up under the lamp instead of under a hen.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

Did you measure the temperature directly under the heat lamp?
That's where it should be 90-95 degrees.
The rest of the brooder can be as cold as the weather makes it.

Chicks with a hen can go under her to get warm, and then can go play in the cold until they are ready to warm up again. Chicks with a heat lamp can do the same thing, except they warm up under the lamp instead of under a hen.

Yeah, it was dropping really low directly under the heat lamp. It has warmed up now. I'm actually having to raise it as high as I can, and it's still getting up to 97-99 in the afternoons. It's fine, though. They can get away from it if they're hot, and they aren't showing signs of being too hot. (I've also added to the flock! I have my first Cuckoo Marans! I'm super excited! The comets are old enough that I could drop the temp further, but the Marans a super tiny and young.)

 

[NatJ]

Yeah, it was dropping really low directly under the heat lamp.

I agree, that was too cold.

It has warmed up now. I'm actually having to raise it as high as I can, and it's still getting up to 97-99 in the afternoons. It's fine, though. They can get away from it if they're hot, and they aren't showing signs of being too hot.

Yes, that is fine. As long as they have plenty of cool space, it's fine to have a bit of space "too hot" right under the lamp.

(I've also added to the flock! I have my first Cuckoo Marans! I'm super excited! The comets are old enough that I could drop the temp further, but the Marans a super tiny and young.)

A really long brooder makes the temperature control much easier: have one end too hot and one end too cold, and the chicks can hang out somewhere in the middle where it's just right. That also works well for chicks of varied ages, because the little ones can spend their time closer to the warm end, while the older ones spend their time closer to the cold end. (I'm not sure how long your brooder is-- you might already have that.)