Whats you opinion on chick temp?

[Ab1010]

Hey everyone! So I just hatched some more chicks and after a couple years of doing this I'm curious. I used to be a freak about following all the rules, but everyone's climate is different. I'm currently in a snowy place, and if you know me on here, you know I get all the seasons! I've only used a heat lamp the first 3 days with these new chicks. They are a week old now and very healthy. I keep them inside by the heater or with me in my office. I notice they huddle and take naps but spring up again and run all over being crazy for most the time. I just have a little den for them to use. To me this seems the same as when they cuddle with their mom and then run around. Are people being too much with heat? Whats your take??

Just FYI the turken is a few weeks older. I use an older one to teach the younger ones to eat and drink!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I let the chicks tell me how they are doing. Their behaviors will tell you if they have a problem or are doing OK.

My basic philosophy is to keep one area warm enough in the coldest temperatures and an area cool enough in the warmest temperatures. I don't care if an area is too warm as long as there is an area cool enough. They manage that straight out of the brooder.

I brood outside so I can have really big temperature swings, which makes it a bit more challenging. If you brood in a climate controlled area like inside the house it's much easier. I've watched broody hens raise chicks. They run all over until they need to warm up, then they run to Mama. I use a heat lamp to simulate that. One area is always warm but the rest of the brooder cools off, sometimes with ice in the far end.

One summer, in what I considered a ridiculous heat wave, I turned the daytime heat off at two days and the nighttime heat off at 5 days. They told me they did not need it or want it and they were right.

I understand people just starting out need guidelines. They don't have a clue what they are doing and need a safe starting point. That temperature chart is very safe. Even if you have a lousy brooder and mess up in many ways as long as you start at 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and drop it 5 degrees a week you will never have them too cold. As long as you allow it to cool off they will never be too hot. Do they need it that warm, no. Do they need it that cool, no. Broody hens raise chicks when it never cools off that much.

It's not that keeping them at those temperatures will hurt them, it won't. But they don't really need it either.

 

[aart]

Are people being too much with heat?

I think many newbies use too much heat...and don't provide a cooler space within the brooder.

Here's my thoughts on that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-chick-heat-blurb.75619/

I use a DIY heat plate now...tho I do have a lamp over the feeding station for newly hatched chicks until they are eating and drinking well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think many newbies use too much heat...and don't provide a cooler space within the brooder.

x2, and I was guilty of that with my first batch of chicks (coincidentally had more issue with pasty butt as well). My first chicks were brooded in a bathtub with the standard 250W red bulb, and it was so hot I could smell the bulb's red coating burning off of it.

My next two batches of chicks were brooded outdoors, with ambient temperatures between mid 40s-60s, and pasty butt wasn't an issue. I've even figured out how to deal with rain so the chicks truly never have to come inside the house or garage for even a minute.

 

[Konokou]

My first batch of chicks I used a heat lamp and followed the guidelines. It was okay, one chick died but it was right after getting them and they'd been shipped.
My latest chicks I did not use a heat lamp. Their brooder is in the same room as the woodstove, I gave them a fleece hidey hole, and kept a large bottle filled with hot water in for them to sit next to if they got too cold. They're about 4 weeks old now and doing great! They stopped using the hot water bottle so I took it out.
My next batch if chicks I might use a heat lamp for the first few days, but I really do prefer the no-lamp method. They aren't in constant light this way and can have a normal day-night cycle