Six week old chicks overheating themselves at night

[Serotonin]

Hello everyone! First, some context. I am a first time I have 10 six week old chicks that I just transitioned to total (natural) darkness at night. There's two windows in the room so they get some moonlight on clear days but it gets pretty dark. We set our AC at 78 degrees F and the room generally stays between 78 - 84 degrees F during the day, depending on what time of day it is. Inside their pen is a liter box with a few inches of dirt inside that I provide as stimulation.

Since transitioning them to natural darkness, I've noticed that all 10 of them tend to cram themselves into the litter box. At first I thought it was cute, all of them somehow Tetris-ing themselves to fit. But tonight, as I was doing their pre-bed water change, I noticed many of them were panting. It was about 80 degrees F at the time, so not too bad. I can only imagine that they're overheating each other, cramming so many birds into such a small space. I don't understand why they won't spread out if they're hot and I'm worried they're going to get heat exhaustion or suffer some sort of negative health effect because of it.

Are they doing this because they're scared? I transitioned them to total darkness because I'll be moving them to their outdoor coop in a few weeks and I didn't want the darkness to come as a shock. However, now I'm not so sure and am debating providing something like a night light. When I turned the light on to get their water, they all woke up, left the box, and began eating/milling about like normal. I opened the windows to hopefully add some cooler air, but it's summer and rarely gets below 75 degrees F at night (and 90s-100s during the day).

What do you all think? Is the panting something to be concerned about, or am I overreacting? Would they leave if they get too hot or thirsty? Should I provide a bit of light to the room to encourage them to spread out more? Is it worth removing the dirt box at night or will they just do the same thing in the corner of the pen?

Any advice would be appreciated, I'm a bit of a worrier.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They huddle up because it gives them a sense of comfort, even if it makes them warmer. I don't think at 80F the huddling will be too problematic, even if some are panting.

I don't provide lighting at night, but undoubtedly my set up is different from yours (I brood outdoors, no added light).

Is there a reason they're not already outside at this age? If they were roosting they'd be able to vent heat from their bodies a little better.

 

[Acre4Me]

Provide them a roost or two.

Agree that they should be able to be outside if they have a proper place to sleep that will protect them from weather and predators.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree, they are not doing that because they are afraid, they like the comfort of being close. It's how they sleep under a broody hen, in a group. They don't like change but are adaptable. The first time in pure dark is a change but mine are typically over that in 10 to 15 minutes.

My brooder raised chicks tend to not sleep on roosts at night until they are around 10 to 12 weeks old with no adults around. I've had some start as young as 5 weeks, some go longer than 12, each brood is different. Some of that may be because of what my grow-out coop and roosts look like. Broody raised chicks are different, they do what the broody tells them to do. I saw one take her chicks to the roosts at 2 weeks. I'm all in favor of providing them perches in the brooder. They like to perch and could learn to sleep up there. I don't know what that litter box looks like. If the sides are elevated they may perch or even roost at night up there.

As long as you are not providing any heat I can't imagine them overheating in there.

With your overnight lows they could have been outside in the coop a week ago as far as temperature goes. I don't know what else is going on, the coop may not be ready, you may have adults so you need to integrate them, or maybe you just like having them inside. Your choice, but it is an option.

 

[Serotonin]

We haven't finished building the roosts and predator-proofing our coop yet, though we plan to do so this week. But mostly I'm just worried about tossing them into 95+ degree heat too soon when I've seen them pant when their brooder reached 85. Granted, that was indoors without the windows open, so it's a bit stuffy, but it's made me really nervous about putting them outdoors. I was hoping that waiting until mid-August might at least bring the temps down to the low 90s.

I know this isn't the topic of my original post, but if anyone has any tips for transitioning chicks out into the summer heat too, I'd appreciate it.

As for roosts, I do have some baby chick roosts that they have slept on in the past. The walls of the litter box are also high enough that they do roost on that too. In fact, they used to do that rather than lump together. But now they all seem to prefer to cuddle puddle it.