Outer Temperature of the room???

[Willow's Meadow]

Ok so this might be a weird question. But I am planning to keep the baby chicks, once they come(haven't ordered them yet), in the basement. The basement stays pretty cold, since we have a brick house. There are no drafts it's just real cold. But they'll have a heat light in the brooder. My question is if they have the heat light and it is warm in the brooder does the outside temperature of the room matter? Should I put a space heater in the basement plus have the lamp? Should I just keep them in a different room?

 

[Akane]

The cooler the room is generally the warmer you need the brooder and of course the higher wattage bulb or lower you need to put the lamp to achieve those temps. Drafts and just the movement of the different air temperatures will cause them to chill easier and they'll want it warmer. When I hatch in summer and it's 78-80F in the house I only need to get the brooder to 90F to keep them happy and they are often without a lamp by the middle of week 2. If I hatch in winter when it's 68-70F in the house they often will complain until my thermometer says 100F and will only be down to 90F the 2nd week.

 

[kipper]

It's getting late to order chicks, could be a while before you will get them. I hope you can get what you want.

I agree with the other response. We had a problem getting ours warm enough in a similar situation. We used a space heater (the oil filled kind) to bring up the temp the first few weeks.

Best of luck to you, enjoy your peepers!

 

[Willow's Meadow]

bump

 

[Manda0227]

I don't think it matters what the temp in the room is, as long as the brooder doesn't get any drafts, and the heat lamp can still reach up to temp. This is gonna sound weird, but we have an incubator going, and if we have the a/c off, it runs WAY too high. When we have it on, it goes fine. I have 2 brooders going right now. One is my almost month old girls, and the heat lamp is really high, so it gives just enough for them- but today I found them all on the cooler side of the brooder.. time to lower the temp again. The other brooder is my lil banties. Their temp in the brooder is pretty stuck at 97, because if I bring it up a notch or 2, its too cold. They seem to go where ever they need to, if they're too hot, they move, if theyre too cold, they move. My room is about 65 degrees. I haven't had any problems. Just get a thermometer, and go by hot your chicks act. Mine are in a finished basement, but its still a basement.

 

[Willow's Meadow]

anyone else? I'm still not sure where I should put the brooder!

 

[dumb_cluck]

Is the basement the only place you can put them? Perhaps upstairs for a couple weeks, then downstairs? The ambient (room temperature) of your room will definitely affect the brooders temp.

The heat lamp is only for "spot" heating. Drafts are a real bad thing for new chicks. You may not be able to feel the drafts, but if your basement is cold, there may be a few present.

Good luck!