Lazy Chicks?

[Brushbacks]

Yesterday we received 20 new chicks and it's our first time raising chicks. We are curious how much they are supposed to sleep? Seems like all that they have done is sleep then they get up and play for a few minutes and then go back to sleep. We have a red heat lamp over them and they were all pretty far away from the center of the light and the thermometer only reads 80 degrees inside the brooder. From what I've read is that the temperature should be 100 degrees.

Thanks for the help.

 

[pookiethebear]

Just like human babies they sleep a lot. My RIRs are 4 weeks old and run around a lot now but they still settle down and groom and nap quit a bit throughout the day. My mixed bag of chicks are 3 weeks old and still sleep a lot as well. When they are up they are up and runniing around then crash, they are asleep.

 

[vwoods]

95 - 100 degrees directly under the heat lamp with plenty or room in the brooder to move away from it if they get too hot. Then decrease the heat by 5 degrees or so per week. Baby chicks sleep an awful lot just like all babies. Its funny to look at them all sprawled out when they are sleeping. Sometimes they look dead, till another one runs over them! Then they all get up and run around for a few minutes and crash again. Aren't they fun to watch?! We call it chick TV at our house!