Safely Heating CX Chicks

[NatJ]

Probably need to reduce the square footage inside the tractor for the brooding stage.

Once they have been in the tractor for about three days, I am sure they will be fine with the full square footage.

https://www.hoffmanhatchery.com/brooding.html
Here is one hatchery's instructions for brooding chicks. It recommends a 250 watt heat lamp and a circle of cardboard 4 to 5 feet across for up to 100 chicks. Most other hatcheries have similar suggestions.

You can use a space 4 to 5 feet across for smaller numbers of chicks too.

@debid @FunClucks @NatJ

Okay, last question, hopefully. How many lamps is recommended per birds? This answer might be different with their rapid growth rate, so could you answer for a 3–4-week-old stage?

I was just typing an answer that includes that.

I would probably buy two heat lamps. That gives you a spare if anything happens to one. It also gives you the option to use both if needed.

Once you have the chicks, watch how they behave. With 25 of them, they should have no trouble staying warm under one heat lamp. As they grow, if you see that they all want to be under the lamp but cannot fit in the warm area, either raise the lamp (makes the warm area bigger but not as warm), or add a second heat lamp near the first (so the two warm areas almost touch.)

I would expect one heat lamp to be enough. You want enough warm area that all the chicks can sleep there at once, and beyond that you want as much cool area as possible. Think of chicks with a broody hen: they sleep warmly under her feathers, but she does not heat all the space in the coop. The chicks come out to run around during the daytime, and pop underneath the hen when they are cold and need to warm up. Once they are warm, out they go again. The chicks can use the warm area under a heat lamp the same way, as a place to sleep and to warm up but not where they hang out all day.