Lighting- too hot and too cold

[blackbeauty]

Hey everybody

This is my first year doing meat chickens in 4-H, but I have already done plenty of production and fancy classes in it too, we have 12 chicks and they are doing fine. I know what there is to know about meat chickens, and I know that if the chicks are crowded together, then they are too cold and if they are spread out, then they are too hot. Well, whenever I go out to check on them, I check the thermometer to see what tempature it is, and it is either too hot or too cold:/. I go out about every hour to check on them, and one moment they are all hudduled together, sleeping, or they are sprawled out throughout the brooder. I keep on turning the heat lamp on and off ALL DAY LONG. I'm worrying when I have to go to school and I won't be there all of the time. Do you guys have any idea what I can do to deal with it being up to 96, and then all of the way down to 80 degrees all of the time? Please help, I'm confused

 

[chickenmom1]

How old are the chicks?

 

[NancyP]

I would leave the heat lamp on but give them the room to self regulate their temp. Good luck.

 

[chickenboy21]

easy... give the chicks twice as much space as they need and put the brooder light at one end that ways if the chicks are cold they will go near the light otherwise if they are to hot they will go further away from the light. I hope your project goes well... goodluck

 

[blackbeauty]

The chicks are now 4 days old, and thank you for the advice, I will definatly do that, thanks

 

[mstricer]

I had a mine in an attached garage for about for only a week and 1/2. 36 chicks poop and eating and drinking and pooping was more then my nose could handle. I only had a light on them for a couple days. I got them the week we had high temps and humidity like heat index at 100 + then out they went. They do huddle together but I think they will be fine. Pick one up and feel how much heat they put out, I think in a closed room they would heat it up. LOL As long as they aren't crying then they are fine they will let you know that they are cold.

 

[blackbeauty]

I think that I will have mine for about two months by the time for the fair. We keep all of our little (and meat) chicks in a welping box (our dog had puppies a long time ago) and we keep that in our barn, by our horses, so it really isn't a closed room. We also got our chicks in the 90-100 degree heat

 

[MrChicken207]

If your temps keep fluctuationg up and down throughout the day, you might have a draft in the room. Other than that, I agree that you should probably give them alot more room than they currently have.