Too hot??

[Sae70]

My question: the heat lamp is up about 2 1/2 feet and they range in age from 4 days to 3ish weeks (I think). We are keeping them in the garage. Do they need the heat kamp at all sonce it’s 80 or higher outside? I have it aimed at 1 corner but I don’t want to overheat them.

 

[CurlyQuail]

How hot is it inside the garage? Some garages heat up as it gets hot outside and some keep cool. If I were you, I’d grab a few thermometers, put one on the middle-ish of the garage, one in the “hot corner” of the brooder and one in the “cold corner” of the brooder. If the brooder is under 95 degrees in the “hot corner” and above 75 degrees in the “cold corner” I’d say you’re fine as. As long as only one corner is getting the heat, chicks can move about to find their ideal temperature. Hope this helped!

 

[3KillerBs]

Do you have a thermometer you can put at their level under the heat lamp?

It's hot here in NC and I've had to back down from a 100 watt light to a 60 watt light to a 40 watt light as well as adjust the height.

 

[Alaskan]

I always go my chick behavior.

The hottest spot in that tote where the heat lamp is aimed... do chicks EVER sit there? Do they avoid that hot corner like the plague?

Maybe turn it off and listen for those complaining cheeps that they do when cold. As the evening cools down, check in on them a time or four and see, are they happy or crying?

You can always duct tape a heating pad to one corner of the tote for any chicks that need a little warm up... the heating pad will not increase the temp of the rest of the tote as much as that lamp

 

[Justso]

I got a dimmer switch, it helped control the temp in a nuanced way without fussing with the lamp height all the time.

 

[Bear1978]

Or ditch the lamp and use a heating plate. I did. Not only was the heating lamp overly hot, I don’t have a garage or an outside place to brood the chicks so they were in my office at home, BUT after 9 days of using one I got a nice text from Entergy saying my energy usage had increased. Those things are ok but they’ll eat up the watts used and make EVERYTHING hot in the general vacinity where it’s being used. A heat plate allows the chicks to hop on or under it, snuggle for the needed warmth and then hop off. And it helps regulate their night time sleeping pattern without a constant bright light shining on them. After I started using that vs the red-eyed cyclops aka heat lamp, they seemed much happier!

 

[Sae70]

Thanks! I will check into those other options. I like the idea of not having a bright light all the time to help regulate sleep.