keeping chicks in the cold

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

I am getting 24 chicks on Sunday, but the highs for Monday and Tuesday are in the teens and in the lows until Friday are in the single digits. they have a big brooder in our barn with a heat lamp (don't worry all precautions have been taken, it is clamped with extra clamps and is even secured to a pole with a bike lock) my question is, if they have a heat lamp that is hot enough will they be okay? the barn stays 10 degrees warmer than the outside also. i have raise chicks with the cold weather, But i cant remember it getting this cold.

 

[paneubert]

What is the temperature under the heat lamp right now? That is the information that matters in order to answer the question. Take the air temp (like in the barn right now), take the temp under the lamp, and then find the difference. Then figure that the temp under the lamp will most likely decrease about the same amount as the air temp if the air drops and you don't drop the lamp. Not going to be perfectly linear decrease, but would get you towards answering the question.

If you are committed to getting better data, get up at 2AM or 3AM Saturday morning and see how hot it is under the lamp.

If the brooder really is big, you can lower the lamp to make a hotter spot that will decrease as you get farther from the circle. They should still have an area of lower temp to escape to. The problem is the lower you put the lamp, the smaller the circle of warmth (but hotter circle). 2 lamps may be needed to make a more rectangular hot spot, especially with 24 chicks needing a spot to sleep in.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

the brooder is 4 feet by 6 feet with a 2.5 by 2.5 square jutting of of it.
I will probably make 2 hot spots. if they aren't thriving i will put them into the portion of the barn that is heated. the heated part is piled with equipment and tools, so I would need to do some work indeed

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Yup, your chicks needs enough space under the lamp to be around 90-95*F while layed out away from one another (never in a pile or huddle, they tend to smother eachother this way). In very cold weather (freezing temps) this may be hard to accomplish without at least two lamps.

Throw a thermometer in there and check. If your thermometer is metal, cover it with a light towel or some bedding so it doesn't just absorb the light and get stupid hot without reflecting the actual temperature.

 

[paneubert]

Two hot spots is probably smart. With a brooder that large......I might almost recommend restricting them to a smaller area, at least at night. Just until they are a little larger. Use cardboard or something to corral them closer to the heat. I had some quail chicks who got "lost" in a larger sized brooder and almost died from the cold. Much smaller than chicken chicks, but still something I worry about when I hear of a large brooder and low atmospheric temps.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

I am confining them for the first week