Week old chickens loud at “bedtime”

[Anchor James]

Hi all,

I have 8 new chicks that are 8 days old and am raising them inside until I integrate them to our existing flock when they’re old enough. We are using the Mama Heating Pad for them and have been able to keep the correct temps for them by adding a ceramic heater on occasion that they seemed to be chilly. For the past few days they've been happy all day with no supplemental heat but after it becomes dark, they start getting loud. They cheep consistently despite not going under the heating pad and the past few nights I’ve caved and turned on the ceramic heater nearby and they will settle down. Once I do this, the temperature under their heating pad is more like 100 degrees. Now that they’re over a week old I feel like they should be satisfied with the 90 degrees under the heating pad. OR is my issue that I don’t put them in a dark room once it’s dark? I am at a loss. Our other hens were raised by mama hen and I’ve never had to care for chicks like this before!

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Do they ever go under the heating pad? My chicks are rambunctious at bedtime too, but they settle. I use a red heat lamp 24 hours a day.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I use a heat lamp 24 hours a day also. If the chicks are loud, they are telling you something is wrong. With their reaction, they are too cold.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I've also had chicks in the summer that didn't require heat but were afraid of the dark, so I had to use the red light anyways.

 

[DesertGrrl]

Lol that's normal.
My 2 chicks get super loud when I turn off the lights, but will be ok after 10 minutes or less. They then go to sleep.