Transition from Heat Lamp to Brooder Plate

[Jmiller13581]

7 days old chicks today. Heat lamp has been above them ~15 inches, thermometer shows 93 degrees. I wanted to transition to a brooder plate, so I warmed it up on medium setting and placed it in the brooder. I turned off the heat lamp for around an hour. When I came to check on them, they were all huddled together, peeping, and fluffed out. They were outside of the plate, did not seem to feel the heat.
I panicked and immediately turned the heat lamp back on. Now they are active, eating, and digging around again. They are now sleeping in the middle of the brooder between the heat lamp and cold side.

What did I do wrong? Is there a better way to transition to brooder plate? Did I shock their system?

 

[redinator]

7 days old chicks today. Heat lamp has been above them ~15 inches, thermometer shows 93 degrees. I wanted to transition to a brooder plate, so I warmed it up on medium setting and placed it in the brooder. I turned off the heat lamp for around an hour. When I came to check on them, they were all huddled together, peeping, and fluffed out. They were outside of the plate, did not seem to feel the heat.
I panicked and immediately turned the heat lamp back on. Now they are active, eating, and digging around again. They are now sleeping in the middle of the brooder between the heat lamp and cold side.

What did I do wrong? Is there a better way to transition to brooder plate? Did I shock their system?

The brooder plate should be low enough they can snuggle under it like they would a mama hen. If it was too high (height not temperature) they probably got chilled because the brooder plate has to touch them for them to feel the warmth. You can press your hand against it to get an idea of how it works. I've only used brooder plates so I'm not sure if it takes time for them to figure it out or not. I put a few chicks under the brooder plate when I first put them in the brooder and they tell the the others where it's warm and they'll huddle under it when/if they need it.

They may also be bothered that it's suddenly dark if they're used to having the light from the heat lamp all night. You could try a small night light near by, or let light in through a cracked door. Good luck.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Did you check that the heat plate was working before you put it in? Did you manually place the chicks under it to ensure they understood what it's for?

 

[Jmiller13581]

Did you check that the heat plate was working before you put it in? Did you manually place the chicks under it to ensure they understood what it's for?

Hi there,
Yes, I did. They ran away from the plate and I even put some food under there to entice them. I tried the brooder plate with night light on and the white light kept them active and chirping for a while, causing distress. I put on the red heat lamp (it’s up higher now, shining just on one edge of the brooder, mostly to warm the surrounding air). Brooder plate is on medium setting. Still plenty of space for them to go to a colder area. They seemed immediately happier and all cuddled together near, but not under, the plate to rest after I put the red heat lamp back on.

I can’t seem to find the balance. They become distressed one way or another the moment the heat lamp is turned off.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi there,
Yes, I did. They ran away from the plate and I even put some food under there to entice them. I tried the brooder plate with night light on and the white light kept them active and chirping for a while, causing distress. I put on the red heat lamp (it’s up higher now, shining just on one edge of the brooder, mostly to warm the surrounding air). Brooder plate is on medium setting. Still plenty of space for them to go to a colder area. They seemed immediately happier and all cuddled together near, but not under, the plate to rest after I put the red heat lamp back on.

I can’t seem to find the balance. They become distressed one way or another the moment the heat lamp is turned off.

They're used to the light so the change is what's causing the distressed sounds.

Assuming you have natural light where the brooder is (a good sized window for example) I'd try putting them under the plate in the morning (with no red light) so they can see clearly, and then just let them scream it out until they get tired of yelling.