Collieoftheborder
Chirping
- Aug 6, 2025
- 25
- 70
- 59
I got 38 chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery exactly 1 week ago. All has been well (I did lose one on day 3) they are all vibrant and healthy. Growing incredibly fast. I am using a brooder plate and I have the brooder in my garage. I had 2/3 of it blocked off the first 4 days and then opened up the whole thing and added pine flakes.
Since I expanded the brooder it’s been extremely difficult to get them to go to bed at night. Prior to that it was just turning the big light off and dimming a tiny lamp until they went under the brooder and then I’d turn it off completely. I’ve gone through different bulbs, brightnesses, lamps, timing, placement because of shadows, anything I can think of and it takes me at minimum 30 mins to get them to calm down enough to stop them from trampling eachother against the wall of the brooder. Any dimming of the light causes panic and chaos. Last night they didn’t even go under the brooder plate at all, all night, they just all snuggled together against the wall of the brooder (except 2-3 that go under the brooder plate every single time no problem! I am unsure if these are the same 2-3 chicks or not)
Tonight I turned the light off while it was still light out and let the normal sunset put them to bed. There was no panicking and crushing but they are still not under the brooder plate. The low tonight is 34*F so I am guessing the garage will get to around 45 or so. Right now the garage is 70*F. I think the brooder plate is in a good position. It is higher on one end than the other. They can stand easily at one end and lay at the other end. During the day they use it a lot and they are pretty evenly distributed underneath it.
I am at a loss as to why they aren’t using the brooder plate at night and why trying to mimic the gradual decrease of light in the evening causes such panic. Please help!!
Pictures attached: Chicks panicking and crushing into the corner. Other pic is of the brooder as a whole so you can see the layout (if you have advice about the massive amount of poop on the brooder plate I am open to suggestions! I clean it every day and it's so time consuming. I fear cardboard or something similar is a fire risk)
Since I expanded the brooder it’s been extremely difficult to get them to go to bed at night. Prior to that it was just turning the big light off and dimming a tiny lamp until they went under the brooder and then I’d turn it off completely. I’ve gone through different bulbs, brightnesses, lamps, timing, placement because of shadows, anything I can think of and it takes me at minimum 30 mins to get them to calm down enough to stop them from trampling eachother against the wall of the brooder. Any dimming of the light causes panic and chaos. Last night they didn’t even go under the brooder plate at all, all night, they just all snuggled together against the wall of the brooder (except 2-3 that go under the brooder plate every single time no problem! I am unsure if these are the same 2-3 chicks or not)
Tonight I turned the light off while it was still light out and let the normal sunset put them to bed. There was no panicking and crushing but they are still not under the brooder plate. The low tonight is 34*F so I am guessing the garage will get to around 45 or so. Right now the garage is 70*F. I think the brooder plate is in a good position. It is higher on one end than the other. They can stand easily at one end and lay at the other end. During the day they use it a lot and they are pretty evenly distributed underneath it.
I am at a loss as to why they aren’t using the brooder plate at night and why trying to mimic the gradual decrease of light in the evening causes such panic. Please help!!
Pictures attached: Chicks panicking and crushing into the corner. Other pic is of the brooder as a whole so you can see the layout (if you have advice about the massive amount of poop on the brooder plate I am open to suggestions! I clean it every day and it's so time consuming. I fear cardboard or something similar is a fire risk)
