2-3 week old chicks heat lamp with high temps?

[nuttyredhead]

So tonight it is 83 with the humidity it feels 88. the lowest it is expected to get is 75 for the night. Do i need to turn the heat lamp on for the night? I turned it off today when it was 99 and they were all panting and in the far corner away from the lamp. Right now they are laying sleeping peacefully, not crowded together or peeping. There is 5 of them in a galvanized horse trough in my garage. I really dont want to cook them! It was never this hot this early with my others!

Any thoughts?

 

[MadHens]

It got into the 90's here today and the humidity was oppressive. Supposed to be the same tomorrow. My 10-day old chicks are in a playpen in my family room. I took the red light out of the brooder today because it was just giving off too much heat. I put in a 75 watt bulb instead and monitored the temp. Right now the hottest part of the brooder is about 88-90 degrees, with ample room to get away from that if they're too hot.

Do you have a thermometer in the container that your chicks are in? I think for 3-weeks old, something in the low to mid-80's should be good. I don't know if they would freak if they had no light source at that age. Maybe someone else could chime in.

 

[Snow mom]

My chicks are 3 weeks old and slept without a heat/ light last night for the first time. It's usually ~84 in the room they are in at night. If you are expecting it to drop down to 75 overnight I'd turn back on the heat lamp for nighttime.

 

[Going Quackers]

Were in the middle of a heat wave here and i have not been using a heat lamp with my 15/16 days olds they'd be cooked! my house is almost 90 simply no point, i basically let my birds guide me if they are moving around not huddled in a corner etc they must be ok!

 

[Jakoda]

Mine were two weeks old this past monday, I have the brinsea heater, and I've been noticing they aren't real interested in staying under it, It is getting HOT here in CT, so yesterday which was oppressive, I shut it off,,,left it in there, because they like to perch on it.

I now have the AC on in the house at 74, (they aren't in direct contact with the AC) most likely I'm leaving the heat source off, because they sure aren't looking for it.

 

[Beckymca]

I once was told, (not sure if it is true) so looking for you opinions on this statement, that. You drop the temp by 5 degrees each week of age, so newly hatched chicks need like 95*, 1 week old 90*, 2 weeks old 85*, 3 weeks 80* and so forth and so on..... Is that a safe plan?

 

[ButchGood]

They can go outside now. I put mine out at two weeks old and I have never had a problem. The "recommended" temperatures that I see published are way to high. Maybe that first day or two at 90 but after that lean towards the cool side. 10 degrees cooler than the recommended temps. At 3 weeks I take the heat lamp away. They all do fine and get into a chick pile if they get a little chilly and stay nice and toasty. If they start peeping loudly, non stop, then they are in distress. That's when you give them a little heat to see if they were cold.
Get them out, they'll be happier and will feather out faster.

 

[prizma]

Beckymca,
Yes, those are the temps I go by for my peeps, as that's what I've always heard as well and it's been working fine for me!

 

[RonC]

Their behavior is a better indicator of whether they are comfortable or not. Sounds like they are doing fine. You might want to turn it on at night but raise it so it offers only a little extra heat but they probably will be fine at 75 degrees without any additional heat.They will snuggle together to stay warm if necessary. They will feather out quicker if kept on the cooler side of the recommended temps. I agree with Butchgood, the first weeks the temps are critical,second not quite so much. At week three mine wouldn't get near the heat lamp except on one or two days when we had some unusually cool nights this spring.

 

[Beckymca]

Good to know. Mine go to the barn in 3'x4' brooder boxes at like 1 week old, then into a bigger brooder til like 4 weeks old, then into a small area in the barn with a little fenced yard, then where ever I figure out to put them from there, lol.......