New member and needs a little help with meat chickens!

[aart]

Here are my notes on chick heat:

They need to be pretty warm(~85F on the brooder floor right under the lamp) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker integration to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree wholeheartedly with aart.

Behavior is the best indicator.
I'm a little lazy and don't check temperature. I try to replicate nature by providing a hot spot and plenty of cool space, just like a broody hen.
If in the rare case, I use a smallish container for just a few chicks I just put a drop light and 75 watt incandescent in there.
Now I only use ceramic heat emitters, usually 150 watt but they also come in 75 and 250. Since they don't put out light, it's easier to provide natural light/dark cycles for the chicks which is very important after the first 3 days.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Here are my notes on chick heat:

They need to be pretty warm(~85F on the brooder floor right under the lamp) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker integration to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

X 2 on all counts!

 

[aart]

I use a thermometer.... when first starting as a learning tool.....

....and continue to because I am insatiably curious and overly analytical(you can never have too much data...lol).

 

[Mrs. K]

Quote: As the chicks grow, they add feathers, and can keep themselves warm provided that they are protected from a draft, and given a good food supply. So by the time you are moving them out to the barn, they will be feathering, the cooler temperatures will make them feather more quickly, however, it is winter, and the nights will be cold. If you can supply a heat lamp in the barn, you would not really need to move them back and forth.