My first couple batches of chicks were spring hatches so they were feathering up as the weather was warming up. That made it a no brainer on when to remove the heat plate.
This years batch was hatched Oct 14th...so 5 weeks old tomorrow. Their tiny 12" x 12" heat plate worked fine for the first few weeks, now they all really cant fit under it easily so they do musical sleeping places. One gets shoved out, then shoves her way back in while shoving someone else out, rinse repeat.
They dont spend a whole lot of time under the plate during the day but I do see some going under for an occasional warm up.
I have a 16"x16" plate that just arrived in the mail. I dunno if I should make the modifications to the brooder to bump the walls out to let it fit. Or should I save the new one for next time and pull the small plate out and put it away too because they really dont need it?
These are the chicks, this is my weather forecast for the upcoming week and this is this afternoon's actual temps in the run and coop. Chicks have access to their brooder via a small door in one of the walls, they have access to the space between the brooder and the back wall via a small access point. They also have access to the entire coop and run but arent venturing far into the run just yet.
This years batch was hatched Oct 14th...so 5 weeks old tomorrow. Their tiny 12" x 12" heat plate worked fine for the first few weeks, now they all really cant fit under it easily so they do musical sleeping places. One gets shoved out, then shoves her way back in while shoving someone else out, rinse repeat.
They dont spend a whole lot of time under the plate during the day but I do see some going under for an occasional warm up.
I have a 16"x16" plate that just arrived in the mail. I dunno if I should make the modifications to the brooder to bump the walls out to let it fit. Or should I save the new one for next time and pull the small plate out and put it away too because they really dont need it?
These are the chicks, this is my weather forecast for the upcoming week and this is this afternoon's actual temps in the run and coop. Chicks have access to their brooder via a small door in one of the walls, they have access to the space between the brooder and the back wall via a small access point. They also have access to the entire coop and run but arent venturing far into the run just yet.
