Should I bring my brooder and chicks inside?

[Chicken Heel]

I find this thread interesting. When I first began raising baby chicks many years ago as a young lad I would fret constantly about brooder temperatures. With time and experience, I have found that chicks are far more robust if they are allowed to harden off quicker. By this I mean that I have generally been moving them out to the coop at around three weeks of age when they were not fully feathered out. In fact my last two large broods were subjected to 46 F temperatures on their second nights in the coops. Both of these broods (one large mixed breed and one mixed bantam) did marvelously in quickly feathering out completely and being quite vigorous and healthy ever since.

 

[aart]

@aart, What are the current recommendations? Thanks.

More like this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-chick-heat-blurb.75619/

 

[gtaus]

More like this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-chick-heat-blurb.75619/

Ok, looks like you start the chicks out at 90F instead of 95F. Other than that, I am doing the same as you.

I will be looking into getting an inline dimmer switch for my heat lamps. I think that is a good idea. Until now, I have raised/lower the heat lamp as needed and/or switching to a lower wattage heat bulb as the temp requirements drop. The dimmer would make things a bit easier.

 

[aart]

The dimmer would make things a bit easier.

A lot easier, for sure....and I use a 60-100W red incandescent reptile bulb instead of a 125-250W heat lamp bulb.
The heat light is only over the feed station for a few days,
they go under a heating pad at the rest of the time.

 

[NatJ]

Until now, I have raised/lower the heat lamp as needed and/or switching to a lower wattage heat bulb as the temp requirements drop. The dimmer would make things a bit easier.

When I have a big enough brooder space, I can just leave the lamp alone until it's time to remove it entirely.

Having one corner at 95 degrees won't hurt them at any age, as long as they have plenty of cool space. And if I raise the lamp, the temperature at floor level does go down, but the warm area covers more square feet. This means their cool area gets smaller, unless the brooder also gets bigger.

I've decided that a brooder 4x6 feet or larger is MUCH easier than trying to get things right in smaller spaces!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I left TX about a year and a half ago, almost two years now. Where I lived, near Austin, 35-40 degree swings in temp were not uncommon over the course of the day. I recommend you bring the chicks and brooder in. NOT because its too cold, but rather because the temperature swings - particularly thru the middle of the day when I assume you are at work - are so large that you can't reasonably adjust the heat lamp to keep anything like target temperatures for your birds. New chicks don't need temperature stress in addition to all their other challenges.

In the future, you might consider a temp controller to plug your heat lamp into, or alternatively, a heat plate design where they can snuggle up as/if needed and step away when not. They are also safer, and more efficient.