Winter Brooding Advice

[Egg Finder]

I've been reading through posts and I think I've decided what I might do. But if anyone is in a similar climate or situation, I'd love some advice. I've brooded chicks outside during the spring twice with success. I used a small coop and a brooding plate. This was the plan again for this year. However, when the local feed store asked if we'd like to add some chicks to his order, I couldn't resist. Not sure what to do for January, we bought a large plastic tote and put them in the house with the brooder plate. The 15 chicks are now a little over a week old and they will soon outgrow the tote. We currently have a metal stock tank with chicken wire over the top inside an unheated shop building ready to go. But we are debating how to heat them. Yesterday was in the low 60's, now we are in the 20's consistently through the week. I have a thermometer in it, but our temperature swings concern me since we both work and I've never used a heat lamp for chicks. My husband has a heat lamp in there now about 18 inches from the bottom and has boards to cover it all to retain the heat. I'm afraid they'll get too hot. I'm thinking about leaving the top covered by wire only, putting the brooder plate in there, and then securely hanging the heat lamp up higher and on the side of the brooder plate just to heat the ambient temperature on the heat plate side. Any experience with this setup or advice? Oh, and I think my husband may have just ordered more chicks because, hey, the feed store is placing another order and if he can get the kind we want, he'll add them. Can I put three day old chicks in with these that will be two weeks old? Thanks in advance!

 

[Yardmom]

For your brooder just make sure one area is warm enough and allow part of it to be cool. Then the chicks can go where they need when they need. As far as mixing 2 week olds and 3 day olds will depend on the personality of the older chicks as size is very different at those ages. If the older chicks peck a lot it would be safer to have separate or devided brooders.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I am a big fan of heat plates over lamps personally. Chicks need access to warmth but ALSO the ability to cool off as needed. Plus, heat plates (or the DIY version with a heating pad, which is what I actually use) allow it to get dark at night. Which just seems nicer for the chicks. Mine all have gone to bed and slept all night (SILENTLY!) using a heat plate.

I suggest building your setup and testing it out with you there to observe. It’s pretty easy to see and hear if the chicks are happy. Quiet peeps and twitters are good. “Car alarm” urgent cheeps mean something is wrong in their little world. As long as the space is free of drafts and your heat plate is large enough and rated for lower temps (brands vary), the heat plate should work great.

Another option is to keep them indoors in an old packnplay. I recommend putting a crib sheet (not a pack n play sheet - one for a crib) over the top to keep anyone from hopping out as they grow. That won’t get them all the way to 6 weeks though…only about .5 sq ft per bird with 15. So you’d need to find two that are cheap enough to “sacrifice” to fit all 15 if you go that route. They wouldn’t be fit for a human after this . And if you have two, you’ll need to reintegrate the flock later on .

Anyway, maybe some of those ramblings are helpful.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Thank you! I have the producer's pride brooder/ coop heater. I don't see where the brooder could work for below 50 degrees. I've search online, but did not see one that would?? I'll look into the heating pad. Does that work in all temps? I'm not wanting to keep them indoors if possible, and the shop is enclosed and draft free. But I will if I have too.

I have just read anecdotally on the forums here about people using heat plates outdoors even in very cold weather, but with some discussions of which brands could handle it. If you google “backyardchickens.com” and then the topic, that works better than the site’s search bar. I’m sure you can find some of the forums?

I’ve never sprung for a real heat plate and instead just used a heating pad placed on top of a toaster oven or cookie cooling rack that I added legs to. You can find great tutorials on here - I followed one by aart. I used it in an unheated but attached room in February (not technically a garage, but probably similar climate). Didn’t have any issues. I would guess it stayed in the 50s in there though. I think that winter we just had one dusting of snow, but mostly pretty warm all considering. I put a thick layer of bedding in there as well to insulate the floor to help keep them cozy.

 

[3KillerBs]

Also, if these were shipped chicks rather than home-hatched, some hatcheries strongly recommend a lamp over a plate because shipped chicks may be too chilled to really warm up from the chilled state under a plate.

 

[Heather67]

Is it a soft chirp with some twitters in there? Or is it insistent like a car alarm? Mine still chatted to me/each other all day, but only went CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP when they thought something was wrong.

Loud all the time no stopping unless the heat lamp is on. I may take the plate out and just deal with the heat lamp. I want to make sure they are comfortable. And I have 2 more hatching as we speak.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Yeah I would listen to them and do what they seem to like. Reevaluate in a few days. Just make sure your light is VERY securely attached and away from the flammable stuff.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I had a similar situation with my December hatch. My brooder plate worked fine until the temp in the coop dropped to low 40s.

If I brood outside again and it gets cool, I’m going to add a heat lamp and point it at the brooder, so the actual brooder remains in 50+ degree temps. I’ll place my thermometer near the brooder to check. I don’t love the idea of a heat lamp in my coop, so I’ll only leave it on when it gets really cold. Fortunately my coop is large and I can easily make sure it's a safe distance from the brooder and anything flammable.

I also kept my brooder play in an open top box with an opening for the chicks to go in and out, so it was mostly protected from drafts blowing underneath.

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you. This is helpful. Do you know about how far from the bottom your heat lamp is? 2 feet maybe? We typically also do not always get below freezing during the day or even at night like this, but that arctic air visits us on occasion like it is this week.

My lamp is on a chain that I adjust up and down as needed.

A brick makes a good proxy for the height of a chick's back -- sit your thermometer on it (and then be prepared to have chicks sitting on the thermometer and leaving a blob of poop exactly where you want to read it).

In this particular setup, the lamp is only there to increase the effectiveness of the plate in cold weather below the usual rating for the use of plates so if it's above 50F under the lamp that's good enough for this specific purpose.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Is the heat plate adjusted so that they can touch it with their backs when lying down?

Mine is adjusted so that it slants and the chicks can find a place that fits them well.

This! Also, I had to herd mine underneath a few times before they figured out that was the warm spot. Baby chicks are…not very bright.