Incubator to brooder questions

[Angie McMahan]

Okay, I have 7 silkies that have hatched over the last 2 days and they are still in bator. I have brooder set up, and all chicks are dry and fluffy...I am anxious to move them. How crucial is it that the temp be 95% throughout brooder? I have the brinsea ecogrow 20 in there, and I have a heating pad under the container on low. I am having a hard time getting the temp up to 95. I have it brooder set up in bathroom, keep door closed and have an electric heater in the room. Thermometer in brooder is reading around 86.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It is actually not a good thing to have it at that temperature throughout the brooder.
They only need a warm spot and lots of cool space. If it was 95 all over, where would they go if they get too hot?
A mother hen doesn't heat all ambient air to 95. She provides a spot about 100F where they warm up and the chicks run around in the cold most of the day.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

Watch the chicks behavior more than the thermometer. Especially at first, it’s normal to have them huddle under the ecoglow for long periods and come out sometimes to eat and drink. The temp doesn’t need to be warm throughout, just in one spot so they can come back and warm up. Those forays will get longer as they get older and indicate they feel comfortable. They will probably sleep under the eco glow. I start out with food and water immediately outside the ecoglow at first so they learn where to get food and water, then mo e them further away where I want them once the chicks know what to do. Chicks that never leave the heat or never use it indicate they’re too cold or too hot. The additional heating pad probably isn’t necessary.

 

[Angie McMahan]

Awesome!!! Exactly what I was hoping to hear! You guys rock!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes, get those chicks some food and water ASAP.