Hi - We got a call yesterday that our babies had arrived - a few days early so we weren't exactly ready - but now we have a brooder with 4 baby "assorted feather legs". My question - we have the red heat lamp and a thermometer - where should the thermometer be set in the brooder? Right under the lamp it's pretty hot (over 100 degrees), that's on the floor of the feeder. It's in the 90s on the edges. Is that too hot? Should it be 90-95 under the heat lamp and cooler at the edges? I'm having trouble figuring out where to place the thermometer and am leaving for part of the day and am afraid that they will bake in this brooder! We did raise up the lamp because when the thermometer read over 100, we freaked out a little! Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. They are drinking and eating and pooping and falling asleep and waking up and doing that all over again. They are SUPER cute! Kara mom to Petunia, Chirpster, Aster and Henny Penny
Congratulations on your babies!! Personally, I don't go so far as to put thermometers in my brooders, but that's because I use a guinea pig cage, so the whole top is wire...if I were using something more enclosed that could build up heat, I would use 2 thermometers, one under the lamp, and one out on an edge. I think that the one under the lamp would be most important though... If you raised up the lamp, and there is somewhere they can go to get away from the heat, you should be fine. They will seek the heat when they need it, and stay away from it when they don't. Observe them, they will tell you what they need. If they are huddled and chirping, they are too cold. If they are all pressed as far away from the heat as they can get, it's too hot. Good luck with them!!
You should be ok as long as they have room to get away from the hottest part if they want to, and they are all drinking ok. Some of those thermometers capture the heat and make it seem way too- hot, but I know by the way the chicks sit under it, they are ok. I sometimesput my thermometer under the paper towels. But then if all the chicks lay on it, it goes way up! If they are all spread out way far away from the lamp, you need to raise it some more.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for responding. I ended up calling Agway and asked the chicken expert there who said (as you all recommended and I thought too) to raise the lamp and keep an eye on it - so I'm staying home for a little while to see how things go. The thermometer was reading 118 actually before I raised it up - and now it's 93 and the baby girls are sleeping under the lamp, all splayed so I'm taking that to mean that they are more comfortable? They are going under the light now, where they hadn't before. My husband (very well-meaning) thought they "looked cold" in the middle of the night so he lowered the lamp to just about the top of the box and the temp went way up. We do NOT want baked chicks - especially because the kids are in love with them already! He means well, but it's me that has to deal with the aftermath as he's gone all weekend! I wanted to post some pics, but can't quite figure out how to do it. I have NO idea what they will look like when they grow up. Not even sure what "assorted feather legs" means except for they have feathers on their legs! Again THANK YOU for replying so quickly to this newbie chick mom. It's funny - we had chickens growing up and the smell of the chicks really reminds me of my childhood!! Kara
