New to chickens

[huntermac0615]

Hi, my name is Hunter. I just bought four 1 week old chicks from a local Pet Club yesterday. I have never owned any chickens before and am really nervous that i'll do things wrong while caring for my new chicks. I set up a brooder, indoors, with a heat lamp, but the chicks seem too hot. I live in Arizona and the AC in the house is not turned on so it is pretty warm. is it safe to turn off their heat lamp and use a desk lamp or two in their brooder instead? Also, what treats can i give the chicks that don't require a grit?

 

[emma p]

Hello and
I would keep the heat lamp on... You can tell by how they are acting if they are cold they will all be in a huddle normally close to the heat lamp and it they are to hot then they will be as far away from it as they can get. At there age it will just be a matter of how close or far away it should be...
The learning center is a good place to look and it sounds like you should read a lot about things there:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
You have come to the right place to learn about chickens!
- Emma

 

[huntermac0615]

Thanks! they were laying kind of scattered on the side of their brooder away from the lamp and it seemed to be getting super hot in there.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! do you have a thermometer where you can check the temperature in various places in the brooder / How big is your brooder? Week old chicks need a spot about 90* but they need cooler spots also, if you have a small brooder and a big light bulb the whole thing may get too hot if the room temp is also pretty high. Otherwise I would go by the behavior of the chicks, if they are staying far away from the light and panting they are too hot, try using a smaller light bulb and see how that works, if they are huddled under the light and peeping then they are too cold...
A lot of people like to give chicks hardboiled or scrambled eggs or yogurt, don't need grit for that.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Sounds like they are too warm. You need to get a thermometer in there under the heat source to really know what is going on. I would start them at 90 degrees and work them down by 5 degrees each week from there. As Kelsie has said, you need cool spots in your brooder. If it is really warm in your house, you may not even need a brooder lamp on them during the day.

Here is a good article in our learning center on raising chicks...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens

Good luck with your new babies and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to our flock!

 

[gander007]

 

[huntermac0615]

Thank you everyone! Their brooder is about 2' by 4'. I do not have a thermometer at the moment but I plan on getting one. I turned their heat lamp off and had placed desk lamps in their and they seem to be much happier, moving around a lot more.
I gave them a little bit of mashed up hard boiled egg and they went crazy, after i put it in my hand instead of their dish. Hand feeding them seems to make it 10x more appetizing or at least less scary.