I need to vent

[BigBird 2025]

That is definitely too hot for them. They need an area to cool down and keeping them at those temperatures will kill them. How hot is the garage? Ideally you want to have around 70-75 on the cool side and 95 on the warm side of the brooder for the first week and then every week after lower the hot side temp by 5° until 4 weeks old when they don’t need heat anymore.

This is a great help and takes a load off my mind, Looks like the chicks will be moving indoors and we will raise the A/C a bit and still use a heat lamp plus following your directions.
Thank you for this information

Now to break the news to my wife.

 

[BigBird 2025]

You should try getting them out within the first couple weeks of September. Keeping them in a brooder past then is really not needed and can become a huge pain. I moved mine out when it was still getting to just above freezing during the night at 5 weeks old.

Wow great info Being so new to all this is tough, glad we have all this wonderful experience in the BYC community.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Wow great info Being so new to all this is tough, glad we have all this wonderful experience in the BYC community.

I’m happy that we can help! A lot of info online can be all over the place and most of the time is just copied from another site which leads to a lot of misinformation. If you look around a lot of places say you shouldn’t put chicks outside before 6 weeks old and fully feathered but the truth is that it is dependent on the climate and other factors. If someone is planning on putting chicks outside in the middle of a New York winter then yes waiting until 6,7 or even 8 weeks is not a bad idea but if you are in a warmer climate like yours in late summer-early fall you can get them outside at 4-5 weeks old with no issues whatsoever. And remember that at some point everyone was new so don’t be afraid to ask questions even if they seem “stupid”

 

[OnlySympathy]

Now to break the news to my wife.

i can almost guarantee she will love them after you get them, they are so unbelievably cute. And having chicks inside is really fun I spent hours watching them run around and holding them. If you keep up with daily cleaning (I would pick out any poop I saw and mix up the bedding daily and every 3rd day I would complete change it out) it shouldn’t smell either.

 

[BigBird 2025]

i can almost guarantee she will love them after you get them, they are so unbelievably cute. And having chicks inside is really fun I spent hours watching them run around and holding them. If you keep up with daily cleaning (I would pick out any poop I saw and mix up the bedding daily and every 3rd day I would complete change it out) it shouldn’t smell either.

Thank you again this will help during the discussion,