Moving brooder to barn - 4 week old chicks

[lhines08]

I live in pa . Temps are in between 35 and 40 during the day and 18 to 28 at night. Will it be okay to move 4 week old chicks brooder outside into a barn. Would leaving the heat plate in be enough heat ?
They are stinking up my basement

 

[LapisLazuli]

It would be fine, as long as they still have the heat plate

 

[KingD]

Should be ok. Just put a thermometer under the heat plate to check the temperature.
Also avoid putting it somewhere with cold draughts.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Stinking up the basement. I understand, that's why my brooder is in the coop from day 1. But I use heat lamps instead of a heat plate so no direct experience with a heat plate.

Many heat plates give a temperature range where they will operate. Do you have that information with yours? Also, how many chicks do you have? At four weeks how well will they all fit on there.

I don't know how safe that is. A big factor may be how well it is protected against wind. If a wind can hit them I would not feel safe at all. If they are well protected from wind I'd feel a lot better. At four weeks they should be pretty close to feathered out anyway and pretty close to being able to handle those temperatures.

Have they been acclimated to cold temperatures? If they are exposed to cold temperatures even for a short time each day they are much better about it than if they are going from tropical temperatures in your basement to outside with no preparation.

I suggest you try them out there during the day without the heat plate and see how they react. You may be pleasantly surprised. If they are OK with those daytime temperatures with no supplemental heat I'd be willing to try them at night with that heat plate.

You might mention the make and model of your heat plate, maybe someone has used it.

 

[lhines08]

Stinking up the basement. I understand, that's why my brooder is in the coop from day 1. But I use heat lamps instead of a heat plate so no direct experience with a heat plate.

Many heat plates give a temperature range where they will operate. Do you have that information with yours? Also, how many chicks do you have? At four weeks how well will they all fit on there.

I don't know how safe that is. A big factor may be how well it is protected against wind. If a wind can hit them I would not feel safe at all. If they are well protected from wind I'd feel a lot better. At four weeks they should be pretty close to feathered out anyway and pretty close to being able to handle those temperatures.

Have they been acclimated to cold temperatures? If they are exposed to cold temperatures even for a short time each day they are much better about it than if they are going from tropical temperatures in your basement to outside with no preparation.

I suggest you try them out there during the day without the heat plate and see how they react. You may be pleasantly surprised. If they are OK with those daytime temperatures with no supplemental heat I'd be willing to try them at night with that heat plate.

You might mention the make and model of your heat plate, maybe someone has used it.

Great info. Our basement is 60 degrees right now. We bought a bigger heat plate 16 x 16 so they could all fit under it. I am hoping to get them out to the coop by week 8 !

 

[Mrs. K]

I completely understand about getting them out of the house. But send them out for a couple of hours, and a little longer the next day, then leave them out. Mine are started in the garage, and outside by 3 weeks.

I have mine without electricity, but they are in a heavily bedded box with an insulated top, maybe 3 inch gap in between. Go down there at dark, and stick them in there, and they will be back there the next night. If you put a thermometer in there it will be WARM.

This allows chicks to move in deeper to warm up, and move out if getting too warm. Like being under a broody. What a broody really does, is not so much add heat to chicks, but catches their heat and holds it around them.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

I thought you were talking about putting them out there tonight. I had 5-1/2 week old chicks go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. They were well acclimated, having been raised in a big brooder in the coop and spent the night in a well ventilated area with great wind protection. There is no reason to keep yours in the house until they are 8 weeks old. Start acclimating then now.

I'm not exactly sure of the box Mrs. K's talking about but it reminds me of a hover. Warm air rises. Think of a shallow box over them where they can get out underneath the edges. Their body heat rises and is trapped. So when they stand up they are in warm air.

 

[lhines08]

Yes I put them out in the barn this afternoon with heat plate.
Went to check on them tonight and theh are doing fine so far. They have most of their feathers.
I want to get them in the coop with no heat by week 8/10

 

[aart]

I want to get them in the coop with no heat by week 8/10

Do you have other birds in the coop?
They should be off heat before 8 weeks.

 

[lhines08]

Do you have other birds in the coop?
They should be off heat before 8 weeks.

We have older birds they are about a year old. But are in the process of adding a second coop. Was not sure if 8 week old birds can handle 15 degrees. Since we are in pa we may still get some chilly nights