Is brooder heat really needed when the chicks can fly?

[Mhays]

So, my 11-day-old chicks that are in the living room staged a massive jailbreak this morning and flew out of the extra-tall tote I'm keeping them in for the time being.

Only one, the one who found himself inside another tote, didn't like the idea - and yelled loud enough for me to go get him. The rest were wandering around the room blithely picking at the nyjer seed I'd spilled on the way to filling the outdoor bird feeders.

My question is this: you are supposed to give them supplemental heat for 3 weeks, according to Dr. Google. That said, I'd like to introduce them to my flock as soon as I can to make sure everybody gets acclimated to each other. How soon can I do that? I keep the house in the upper 70 range, so it's not the same as a brooder, even though it's summer (I did turn down their heater to 85 degrees yesterday; nobody seemed to mind.) I mean, 11 days seems early, but they are feathering out really quickly! (not fully-feathered, though.)

 

[Nabiki]

Listen to the chicks. Mine are often fine with room temperatures by 2 weeks, but watch them. If they still huddle under the heat during the night, they might still need it. Try removing the heat for a day and see if they huddle together. If they do, they still need some heat.

They are less likely to need heat if there are a lot of them because they can get heat from each other.

 

[FloorCandy]

I removed my heat plate at 2 weeks, my house is between 70-76 degrees.

 

[Mhays]

Thank you - that's a good indicator. They are still huddling under the brooder pad, but for shorter and shorter periods of time...by your suggestion, I think they'll be ready fairly soon.

 

[FloorCandy]

Thank you - that's a good indicator. They are still huddling under the brooder pad, but for shorter and shorter periods of time...by your suggestion, I think they'll be ready fairly soon.

I leave the heat plate in for an extra day, but turned off, because they still go there if they’re startled or lost, then after a day of no heat I remove it and give them an upside down box to hide under.