what is too hot for baby chicks? opinions plz

[back2simplelife]

I am totally new to chickens, especially babies! We decided 2 weeks ago to get week old chicks. They turned 3 weeks today. We decided because of the snakes, hawks, ect outside that we would keep them inside the house, in a brooder so they were close to us. (yeah, I am a freak and didn't want anything to happen to them) Daily temps are about 85 (inside) were they are.. when it gets lower than that (or they look distressed), I put the light on them.. then shut it off when they move away from it. Well, they are growing way faster than I imagined and are getting bored in the brooder. (totally made it too small and they are trying to fly with no room!) We have made a play/ run for them outside during the day. My question is.. at what temp outside should I bring them back inside? What is TOO hot? We are in TX with triple digits. They do have water and are in the shade but it's still HOT. Anyone?

 

[back2simplelife]

I am assuming I would do the same as I would do when weaning them from the light? Just the opposite since we are going hotter instead of colder? Slowly and look for distress? Is that right? Guess I should have thought about this before we put them inside

 

[chickstarter6]

I was wondering the same thing. I have 35 4 week olds and today the heat index is suppose to be like 102. I was worried about them being out in the heat but there coop and run are covered so they are shaded but it's still HOT! I'm hoping they are all ok when I get home this evening. Thought about putting a fan where I had the heat lamp hanging but wasn't sure about that either.

 

[back2simplelife]

sounds like yours are use to being outside? big mistake I think on my part.. sigh.. guess I will just gradually let them out and bring them back inside during the heat of the day. I thought of a fan too.. but will that hurt them at this age while they are trying to regulate their body temps? I dunno! Might have 5 adults running around the house before too long.. lol

 

[wsmith]

I put mine outside at 1-2 days old in the outside brooder coop. It has a heat lamp which is on a thermostat.

HOWEVER....it has been HOT out there even in the shade. It got to 106 yesterday if you believe the thermometer. I have a fan which lowers the temp by about 5 degrees. And on the really hot days, we put frozen jugs of water with the fan and it does good at dropping the temps a little. As long as they are under 100 F and not for more than a few hours they seem to do fine. We don't usually get that hot, but the past couple of years have been weird, and we're still in a drought situation. I feel like we're in Texas.....

 

[SobbaChickens]

Always offer cool water, sand for dust bathing, and cold or frozen treats (make sure they have grit). I froze watermelon chunks and gave them to my girls this morning when it was super nasty out, I've also been freezing small water bottles and putting them around the chicken run, I've been putting ice in their waterer as well.

 

[back2simplelife]

I put mine outside at 1-2 days old in the outside brooder coop. It has a heat lamp which is on a thermostat.

HOWEVER....it has been HOT out there even in the shade. It got to 106 yesterday if you believe the thermometer. I have a fan which lowers the temp by about 5 degrees. And on the really hot days, we put frozen jugs of water with the fan and it does good at dropping the temps a little. As long as they are under 100 F and not for more than a few hours they seem to do fine. We don't usually get that hot, but the past couple of years have been weird, and we're still in a drought situation. I feel like we're in Texas.....

Thanks! So under 100 degrees then? Am I understanding you correctly? Ours are weaned down to about 85 so I need to do the opposite and raise it back up then if I want them to go outside for any length of time? is that right? lol.. temps like that it does sound like you are in tx!

 

[back2simplelife]

Thanks! so far they haven't touched any fruit, veggies, or even grass..now, bugs they are ALL over! I keep trying but they look at me like I am crazy! I did put some frozen jugs around the run but I got scared and moved them back inside

 

[gumbita]

I asked a similar question a few days ago and everyone just told me to kind of transition them little bits at a time (if you're a gardener, it's kind of the same thing you do with new seedlings I am also in TX and my babies are inside my lovely air conditioned house. . .if the babies are getting way too big and you need a little more time to transition them, maybe upgrade your brooder to a cheap alternative? We recently found a watermelon box for the taking at our local HEB and it has made an awesome brooder!

 

[chickstarter6]

sounds like yours are use to being outside? big mistake I think on my part.. sigh.. guess I will just gradually let them out and bring them back inside during the heat of the day. I thought of a fan too.. but will that hurt them at this age while they are trying to regulate their body temps? I dunno! Might have 5 adults running around the house before too long.. lol

They have been outside for about a week and a half. The night temps didn't get below 70 so we turned the light on them before we went to bed but noticed they got away from it pretty quick after turning it on. We haven't used the light in a few nights and they seem to be fine. They all go up top when the sun goes down and are down on the ground when the sun comes up. We are expanding their living quarters so they are about to have way more playing room!