Newbie heat question

[ruby2zdaze]

Thank you in advance all. Our weather here has been pretty hot. Today is a planned 95-100 degrees. Should I turn the eco-glow off for the day?
Chicks are just at 2 weeks old. Currently in the garage in a bin/brooder. We take them out into the yard 3-4 times a day for fun & excersize. Already quite the bug eaters

 

[SueT]

The reason for the warmers is to keep the chicks' environment warm, which, they say at 2 weeks should be about 90º---the hot weather is achieving that for you. There are dangers in getting too hot. You will find lots of helpful expert advice about hot weather in the forum archives....

 

[azygous]

I'll expand on the reason behind providing heat to baby chicks beyond what Sue just said.

The real purpose for providing heat to chicks who are still mostly in down is to counter their loss of body heat in cool environments. Just as you lose body heat in winter if you go outdoors without a proper coat, so do baby chicks lose heat due to the absence of insulating feathers.

Ergo, in an environment that is already very warm, nearly the same temp as the body temperature of a chick, very little, if any, heat will be lost by the chicks. No extra heat need be offered in this case.

And the reason we reduce the temperature in the brooder gradually over the first four weeks is to gently harden the chicks against cooler temps as they grow in their feathers, as well as keeping the brooder a comfortable temp as the chicks become more feathered and less in need of heat to maintain their body temp.

Sometimes it takes the mystifying quality out of something if we understand the reason for doing it.

 

[RobertPlamondon]

Thank you in advance all. Our weather here has been pretty hot. Today is a planned 95-100 degrees. Should I turn the eco-glow off for the day?
Chicks are just at 2 weeks old. Currently in the garage in a bin/brooder. We take them out into the yard 3-4 times a day for fun & excersize. Already quite the bug eaters

As you know, if the air is already at brooder temperatures, the chicks don't need any additional heat.

I suggest you keep four points in mind:

1. Provide enough heat to get the chicks through the worst-case low temperatures you expect. For example, my farm is supposed to have highs in the seventies and lows in the fifties this week, so providing enough heat for 50 degrees would be ample.
2. Provide enough cooling for the worst-case HIGH temperatures. With my highs in the seventies, this just means providing enough space in the brooder house that the chicks can fully get away from the heat. At higher temperatures, you'll need to add more airflow to keep the chicken coop temperature from spiking higher than the outdoor temperature, and eventually you'll need the wind-chill factor of floor drafts cooling the chicks directly.
3. The chicks will need plenty of water in hot weather. I recommend using at least two waterers in hot weather, in case something happens to one. Keep the waterers in the shade, because chickens like shade and don't like hot water.
4. A breezy outdoor run with all-day shade and ready access to water is ideal for hot weather; especially during daytime -- better than any coop.

Robert

 

[ruby2zdaze]

Thank you so much! They have been dealing with our heat wave of 95 pretty well. We have been letting them sit out with us in the shady grass for a bit and then we have them in the garage where it's at least 10 degrees cooler. Lots of water.

 

[ruby2zdaze]

I was finally able to upload our pic!

 

[realsis]

So adorable!♡♡♡

 

[Ghull00]

They are amazing little things!!! SOOO adorable!!