almcd23
In the Brooder
Hi everyone!
I just received my chicks yesterday (5 of the Meyer's brown egg-layer assorted!) and they all seem to be healthy and happy. I have them set up in a repurposed dog crate brooder, with the Producer's Pride lamp from TSC and a 250w red light bulb. They have plenty of room to get away from the lamp in the open-air part of the brooder, and they also have a mini hen-house (the box they came in) that isn't directly in the beam from the light but is on the lit end of the brooder.
I'm in TN so the outside temperature as I write this is 91, with 45% humidity. I was worried between that and the lamp, it might be too warm for them so I've been watching closely (nervous first timer here!). They have been sleeping huddled together in their chick-house, but occasionally one will run out panting and drink some water. But THEN it'll go BACK into the chick-house, which is presumably warmer than the unlit part of my brooder and jump right back in the puppy puddle.
I've attached some pictures of my setup for reference, so you can see how much space they have and where the "hot parts" of the brooder are (note that these photos were before they decided on an afternoon nap, but the box in question is this white box in the back corner). I was considering mounting the light outside, but because they're not doing a textbook too-hot scatter I'm worried they'd get chilled that way. I'm not sure what to make of these mixed signals!
I just received my chicks yesterday (5 of the Meyer's brown egg-layer assorted!) and they all seem to be healthy and happy. I have them set up in a repurposed dog crate brooder, with the Producer's Pride lamp from TSC and a 250w red light bulb. They have plenty of room to get away from the lamp in the open-air part of the brooder, and they also have a mini hen-house (the box they came in) that isn't directly in the beam from the light but is on the lit end of the brooder.
I'm in TN so the outside temperature as I write this is 91, with 45% humidity. I was worried between that and the lamp, it might be too warm for them so I've been watching closely (nervous first timer here!). They have been sleeping huddled together in their chick-house, but occasionally one will run out panting and drink some water. But THEN it'll go BACK into the chick-house, which is presumably warmer than the unlit part of my brooder and jump right back in the puppy puddle.
I've attached some pictures of my setup for reference, so you can see how much space they have and where the "hot parts" of the brooder are (note that these photos were before they decided on an afternoon nap, but the box in question is this white box in the back corner). I was considering mounting the light outside, but because they're not doing a textbook too-hot scatter I'm worried they'd get chilled that way. I'm not sure what to make of these mixed signals!

