Moving chicks from warm house to cold barn...

[chanceosunshine]

They are two weeks old. Will a change in temps make them sick?

They're in a small brooder in the house that ranges from 70-80 degrees right now. I'd be moving them into a brooder 5 times bigger and the current temps are a high of 50 and low of 30.

I did buy a second heat plate for them. I'm just worried that the change in temperature could be bad.

 

[NatJ]

As long as they are able to warm up under the heat plate, they should not have a problem with the rest of the brooder being so much cooler.

 

[MasterofNone]

No chicken specific info here, but I know from other other animals that often a little bit of environmental stress as youngsters makes for stronger, more resilient adults. Seriously, though, emphasis on "a little stress".

You want to make sure all the necessities available to them, like a place to warm up, food, water etc are available to them, but its good to experience changes in environmental conditions to some extent. As far as how much this translates to chickens... I have no idea. But I imagine if you check up on them regularly to make sure all their time isn't huddled under the heat, they should be fine.

 

[chanceosunshine]

Thank you. They actually seem very happy. It’s a much bigger brooder and as I said, I added another heat plate so they should be good.
They are able to flap their little wings and run all over the place now. It was a good decision.
And I agree with you @MasterofNone that a *little* stress may strength them…it makes sense. Thanks again.

 

[chanceosunshine]

For some reason they’re not going under the heat plates. I checked on them before dark and they were all huddled together by the waterer.
It’s a much bigger space than they were in so I split it in half.I checked on them again and half were under a plate and half were huddled near a feeder.
I made another adjustment and just hope they’ll be warm enough tonight. It’s going to be 32 degrees.

 

[Poodlemum]

Some heat plates aren’t useable below 50° ambient temp, so double check the instructions. Hopefully they figure it out! That’s a bit cool for my nerves at that age, but I’m a worrier. We lost an older chick to piling when we moved them out and I’ve lost a bit of my nerve, usually we’ve had no trouble and the younger group was fine

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

That’s risky. I’d use a heat bulb out there in those temps! Especially if some chicks are not going under the heat plate

 

[3KillerBs]

These are my 2-week-old chicks from the Easter hatch in their outdoor brooder on a morning that dropped down to 42F.

They are not huddling because they are cold, they are huddling because the door makes a noise when it opens and that frightens them. When I peeked in the window before I opened the door they were already up against the vent wall looking out at the green world.

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

These are my 2-week-old chicks from the Easter hatch in their outdoor brooder on a morning that dropped down to 42F.

View attachment 3082803

They are not huddling because they are cold, they are huddling because the door makes a noise when it opens and that frightens them. When I peeked in the window before I opened the door they were already up against the vent wall looking out at the green world.

So is there a heat source in that outdoor brooder? Have I been doing it wrong all these years? I’ve been maintaining strict temps for my chicks but is it necessary???

 

[3KillerBs]

So is there a heat source in that outdoor brooder? Have I been doing it wrong all these years? I’ve been maintaining strict temps for my chicks but is it necessary???

They have a brooder plate and they do go under it to get warm from time to time (and they're still sleeping under it), but after the first few days I've never caught them all under it at the same time when it was daylight.

I used dual heat with a Big Red Bulb and the plate for most of the first week because we're having a late and unusually cold spring.

For the first 2 weeks I divide my huge brooder so that they don't get lost too far from their food and water.

As long as they have a place where it's warm enough and know to go there when they need to they don't have to have the entire brooder heated. In fact, it helps them acclimate and grow feathers rapidly.

I will say, however, that my usually issue with chicks is keeping them cool enough. I've already had 85F afternoons.