My brooder set up

[Tuch baluch]

The brooder on the right that has the mesh cover has been about 85 while the other two have been 95 cause it is the first week for those chicks.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Oh, the cover is mesh, ok.

 

[Tuch baluch]

Ya it kinda looks like glass, but it's mesh. I had to put it there because the chicks kept flyjng out. They kept knowing there feeder over so I stopped that. Is 85 degrees good for three week old chicks? I just want to make sure they are comfortable.

 

[Tuch baluch]

It's 95 in the extra toasty corner

 

[rosemarythyme]

85 is really unnecessary for 3 week olds... they'll be hardier and feather out better with lower temps.

I'd really consider removing the heat lamp entirely over the older birds, the other lamp should throw plenty of heat without being directly over it.

 

[Tuch baluch]

Ok I'm new to chickens and a couple places on google said to have the heat at 95 for the first week and down five degrees every week. Would you mind telling me what temperatures it should be for every week? Sorry to inconvenience you.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ok I'm new to chickens and a couple places on google said to have the heat at 95 for the first week and down five degrees every week. Would you mind telling me what temperatures it should be for every week? Sorry to inconvenience you.

The 5 degrees a week "rule" seems to be intended to minimize losses in commercial sized brooding set ups. Many of us find it to be too hot (which can lead to issues like pasty butt) and excessively slow, as it'd take months in some climates to get chicks moved out.

I don't own a thermometer so I can't give you exact numbers. But back when I was using a heat lamp, I raised the heat lamp (and then swapped to a much lower watt bulb to further lower the temperature) by watching the behavior of the chicks. If the chicks are active throughout both warm and cool zones, they're doing well. If you drop the temperature a few more degrees and they're still doing well, that's even better. You may need to experiment a bit to find what a good threshold is for your chicks.

 

[Tuch baluch]

Okay thank you.
The chicks seem to be doing pretty well.

 

[Aapomp831]

Ok I'm new to chickens and a couple places on google said to have the heat at 95 for the first week and down five degrees every week. Would you mind telling me what temperatures it should be for every week? Sorry to inconvenience you.

The chicks will tell you if they are too hot or cold. We always have our heat lamps on a adjustable rope; if they are chirping loudly and huddled together we lower the heat lamp. If they are panting and holding their wings out, we raise it higher. I dont bother with a thermometer or what google says; I have never had a chick want to be in 95 degree heat after the first 2 days. We just let them tell us, and our brooders are large enough that they can either go under or escape the heat.

 

[Tuch baluch]

Ok thank you! Ya the chicks seem to be going wherever they want to in the brooder. My older chicks scratched out all of there food last night