Struggling with heat

[mendogurl]

I am constantly turning lamps off and on.
One lamp on the temp goes to 85 degrees, two lamps it goes over 100, or it doesn't and stays nicely at 95.
I am constantly angling lamps trying to find the magic spot.

I am worried that the changes will impact the chicks, although seem fine and dandy.
Any advice from the board of wisdom?

 

[texas_chick]

How constant is the surrounding temperature? If that fluctuates a lot then as a result you will need to adjust the lamps a lot to keep up with the ups and downs.
See if you can keep the brooder in an area with a fairly constant surround temp.

 

[mendogurl]

I have them in the kitchen, figuring it was the most consistently heated place in the house. Plus it is easy to keep an eye on them.
Maybe I will try another location tomorrow.
Hmmmm.

 

[teresac]

We have ours in a 55 gal plastic tub. Cut the top and replaced w/ hardware cloth. Have one of the silver metal lamp things w/ a 90 watt halogen bulb that sits on top of the hardware cloth. Put a metal shim to raise it on one end. Then put a towel on the other end and move the towel to cover or uncover as needed. That really seems to work. Our brooder is staying at 90-95 and they are doing well. Hope that helps. If you want a picture let me know and I will do it tonight when I get home.

 

[bigmike&nan]

Wait,

You're in SoCal right ?? So it can't be THAT cold. If you keep your home heated to say 70 and you have NO DRAFTS in the room the babies are in and you have infrared heat lamps (even one if you have less than 12 chicks) you should be fine.

One thing about our babies (and my observations of other member's posts here) your babies will gravitate to the warm spot of the brooder if they get cold. Our guys would find their own "sweet spot" as they got older, meaning as they feathered out some they didn't need quite as much heat, we removed side panels from the brooder to allow a little more ventilation (and lowered the brooder temp). We just kept them fed and watered and played with them endlessly...

Hey, it's OK to be a worried parent. I think folks do it every time they have chicks, we sure had a lot of sleepless nights.

By the way our guy Mozart is crowing his approval of this msg right now. LOL

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I never checked the temp in the brooder. I just watched how the chicks were behaving. We got them in late May/early June. They were in a 100gal galvanized water trough with a baby gate over the top bungied down and the heat lamp hanging inside with a 75wt bulb. I had them in the living room
No deaths and I have 5 healthy layers in my coop

 

[sm0kin]

I have one 250 watt heat lamp in a 4 foot by 2 foot box/brooder. I have the lamp about 2 foot from the bottom and on week two instead of shining down i changed the angle to hit the middle of the brooder. On Monday i will angle it even more to shine at the back of the brooder. Next week i am gonna change the lamp out and start over may have to lower it then.

 

[chickedydoodaa]

if your brooder is long enough hang the lamp at one end so the chicks can find the right spot for themselves, they can move toward or away from the heat, they will know and find the right spot for you and you won't have to worry. I have mine in a wire bunny type cage, the lamp at one end.

 

[silentrunning]

Rhett&SarahsMom :

I never checked the temp in the brooder. I just watched how the chicks were behaving. We got them in late May/early June. They were in a 100gal galvanized water trough with a baby gate over the top bungied down and the heat lamp hanging inside with a 75wt bulb. I had them in the living room
No deaths and I have 5 healthy layers in my coop

That is exactly what we did. We had them in a long aquarium. I kept the heat constant by changing the size of the bulb. The chicks would move closer if they were cold and away if they were too warm. All 8 chicks are now feathering out nicely and living outside.

Doug​

 

[mendogurl]

Rhett&SarahsMom :

I never checked the temp in the brooder. I just watched how the chicks were behaving. We got them in late May/early June. They were in a 100gal galvanized water trough with a baby gate over the top bungied down and the heat lamp hanging inside with a 75wt bulb. I had them in the living room
No deaths and I have 5 healthy layers in my coop

I think this is really good advice. I am being too literal.
If I pay attention to the chicks, they seem absolutely fine !​