Brooder lamp not going above 81 degrees

[MarionIN4Chickens]

Hey y’all I’m new to hatching eggs and I’m having an issue getting my brooder up to temp. I’m on day 15 of hatching coturnix quail so I’m anxious about not getting the temperature high enough before they start hatching. I have an inkbird temperature probe set up touching the bedding directly under the brooder lamp and it’s not reading higher than 81 degrees! I left it overnight to heat up in a room that’s 72 degrees consistently. The lamp is a 125 watt bulb. I’ll attach photos so you can see the set up. If anyone has any suggestions please send them my way asap! I’ve got two days to figure this out before chickies are due

 

[NatJ]

Hey y’all I’m new to hatching eggs and I’m having an issue getting my brooder up to temp. I’m on day 15 of hatching coturnix quail so I’m anxious about not getting the temperature high enough before they start hatching. I have an inkbird temperature probe set up touching the bedding directly under the brooder lamp and it’s not reading higher than 81 degrees! I left it overnight to heat up in a room that’s 72 degrees consistently. The lamp is a 125 watt bulb. I’ll attach photos so you can see the set up. If anyone has any suggestions please send them my way asap! I’ve got two days to figure this out before chickies are due

Have you tried lowering the lamp? That is the usual way to adjust temperature for that method of heating.

 

[Kiki]

I start my freshly hatched quail out at 80 with NO ISSUES.

 

[MarionIN4Chickens]

Have you tried lowering the lamp? That is the usual way to adjust temperature for that method of heating.

I did lower it to the point it was almost touching the top for four hours and it only raised the temperature to 88

 

[Kiki]

I did lower it to the point it was almost touching the top for four hours and it only raised the temperature to 88

That is plenty warm enough.

 

[NatJ]

I did lower it to the point it was almost touching the top for four hours and it only raised the temperature to 88

If 88 is warm enough, then you're good to go. (I would trust @Kiki on that)

If you need it even warmer, you would need to lower the lamp further (open the top), or else use a bigger bulb (more watts, more heat).

One interesting effect with heat lamps: the lower you put it, the warmer the temperature right underneath, but the smaller that warm place is. Raising the lamp spreads the heat over a larger area, so no part is as hot but more areas are somewhat warm. If you are trying to provide both a warm area and a cool area in the brooder, changing the height of the lamp makes a big difference to how warm the warm area is, but also how big the cool area is and how cool the cool area is.

 

[MarionIN4Chickens]

That is plenty warm enough.

When I read up on it my research said that newly hatched babies needed 95-98 degrees and to lower the temp 5 degrees each week to avoid them dying. Is that information inaccurate?

 

[ChickaChicka1]

When I read up on it my research said that newly hatched babies needed 95-98 degrees and to lower the temp 5 degrees each week to avoid them dying. Is that information inaccurate?

Pretty much, but it won't hurt them if it's a little cooler. Especially if it's warm where you are and they're inside.

 

[NatJ]

When I read up on it my research said that newly hatched babies needed 95-98 degrees and to lower the temp 5 degrees each week to avoid them dying. Is that information inaccurate?

I would start with the temperature that @Kiki said is good, then after your eggs hatch, watch how the babies act. This should work equally well for any species of bird where the babies can walk around (chickens, quail, ducks, geese, guineas, turkeys.)

If they huddle together in the warmest place and make noise, they need more warmth. Lower the lamp.

If they mostly stay in the coolest area, the warmest part is probably too hot. Raise the lamp, or move the lamp past the end of the brooder so it only partly shines in, or something like that.

After you change something about the lamp, watch how they act, and decide whether to change it further, or put it back.

The advice to lower the temperature by 5 degrees per week: again, fine-tune it by the way your group of birds act. You may be able to reduce the heat faster than that, or you might not be able to go that fast. With chickens, some breeds grow their feathers much faster than others. That makes a difference in how quickly they can stand lower temperatures. I do not know if quail chicks have that kind of variation or not.

 

[Kiki]

When I read up on it my research said that newly hatched babies needed 95-98 degrees and to lower the temp 5 degrees each week to avoid them dying. Is that information inaccurate?

Yea...it's not real life numbers.
They don't need to cook after they come out of the egg.