Is this too much heat?

[lewis98110]

Moved our 2 week chicks out from our dining room to our coop building. They have been using a brooder plate for warmth in the dining room. Our outside temperatures are still hovering in the 50's at night and overcast morning's like this. I put in a heat lamp to warm up the ambient air and reinstalled the brooder plate thinking they would like that comfort and familiarity. Is this overkill? My concern is that the brooder plate is good for resting and sleeping but the rest of the coop will be too cold to move around and eat and play.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Ive used a brooder plate in my coop with 3-4 week old chickens and ducks when it was 50 degrees. Although it did get to around 30 with the ducks and i just moved them back inside. I mean you could leave both in there or just the heat lam. It never hurts as long as the heat lamp is in a safe spot. Maybe leave the lamp in there till it gets to 60 then just have the plate. Or until they are old enough. But they will run out get food and water quick and run back under the plate if they get cold. I cant imagine still being in 50 degree temps right now i would be over the cold weather.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I do the same at night for my brooder chicks- the lamp is set about 5 feet up, suspended with a chain (safety first) just to heat the ambient air in my garage to > 60F at night. Lamp off in morning.
They go under the brooder plate as needed. As long as the chicks can escape the heat if needed you should be fine.

 

[rosemarythyme]

50s is perfectly fine for 2 week olds to be running around - you don't need that much ambient heating. However they do still need some heat at this age, and if the brooder plate is intended for use in 50F and up then raising the ambient temperature inside may be necessary in order to keep the plate functioning optimally.