Does an outdoor brooder need ambient heat in addition to a brooder plate?

[EmmaDonovan]

Our nighttime temps are in the 40s and 50s. The brooder has two 10"x10" brooder plates for 15 chicks.

Does it also need an ambient heat lamp at night for new chicks (one and two days old)?

 

[Alexandra Runner]

I personally don't think so. Mama hens have just themselves at night, and the chicks are perfectly happy to snuggle up underneath her!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Our brooder plates have "comfort feathers" to help them seem a little more like mama. The chicks love them.

I read somewhere that brooder plates don't operate as well when outdoor temp drops into the 40s. I couldn't figure out why that might be, though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use a heat lamp, not brooder plates. Some heat plates say to not use them in less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 C) temperatures but some don't. I'd check your manufacturers recommendations or maybe send them an email. I'd expect it to be a lot less of a problem if you have decent draft protection where a breeze can't hit them.

Broody hens can raise chicks in temperatures below freezing. The chicks need a place where they can go warm up when they get cold. That's what I try to provide. The area where I have my heat lamp is toasty but the far corners of my 3' x 6' brooder in the coop may have frost on it some mornings. The chicks will roam some and go back to warm up when they need to.

I do this straight out of the incubator. For the first two or three days they tend to spend almost all of their time in the warm area. When they hatch they absorb the yolk and can live off of that for 72 hours or more. They don't need to eat or drink but they will some if it is offered. By the time they use up that stored nutrition they do a lot more roaming, even going into the colder areas some.

My thoughts are that you probably do not need that heat lamp, they should do fine. But it won't hurt to see of you can get the manufacturers recommendations. That should give you more confidence than a stranger over the internet.

 

[Debbie292d]

Our nighttime temps are in the 40s and 50s. The brooder has two 10"x10" brooder plates for 15 chicks.

Does it also need an ambient heat lamp at night for new chicks (one and two days old)?

Two-day old chicks should be at 90-95F and each week that can go down 5 degrees.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Two-day old chicks should be at 90-95F and each week that can go down 5 degrees.

That is an extremely conservative rule of thumb, I've had chicks thrive on less. Chicks can be like people. If you have a meeting room at the "perfect" temperature some people will be a bit cool, some a bit warm, and some just right. But if you follow that rule of thumb they will all do fine.

In any case it only applies to the area they go to warm up in. The rest of the brooder, including areas with food and water, can be quite a bit cooler. But they do need that one area warm enough.

 

[Debbie292d]

In any case it only applies to the area they go to warm up in. The rest of the brooder, including areas with food and water, can be quite a bit cooler. But they do need that one area warm enough.

Agreed. The key is to watch the chicks. If they act cold, they are.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have brooded chicks out in the coop with only a heat plate and temperatures down to low 40s.
I admit I was anxious but they were just fine. The just scoot under the plate if they need to warm up.
Make sure the plate is at a slant so they can get really close to it if they need and also that they can get in and out from multiple sides so nobody gets stuck and over heats.

 

[Birdinhand]

I’ve found with Cornish cross and layers mixed, that a mother heating pad is adequate. I’ve even gone down below freezing. This is with 30-40 chicks. For a smaller batch it gets more critical to take additional heat conservation measures, giving them a sort of nest they can cuddle into, but with enough room to get up and move to warmer or cooler spots depending on their needs. When using direct heat transfer such as a heat plate or MHP, the ambient temperature guidelines usually applicable to heat lamp based brooders does not apply. Direct heat transfer is orders of magnitude more efficient and therefore the air can be cooler. You really are based to go off of behavior. If you hear that gentle, precious murmuring at night, they are usually good. If a chick is standing up with its eyes closed, alone, usually that means it’s at the hypothermic tipping point and needs warming. If you find them passed out, apparently dead, it’s always worth warming them up to see if they can recover from stasis… it amazes me how often they can bounce back.

 

[NatJ]

I read somewhere that brooder plates don't operate as well when outdoor temp drops into the 40s. I couldn't figure out why that might be, though.

It is because of how much heat they make.

A mother hen keeps her body at the same temperature, no matter how hot or cold the weather is. She can raise chicks in any weather.

A heat lamp puts out large amounts of heat: good in cold places, too much in warm places.

A brooder plate puts out less heat than a heat lamp. That is good for saving electricity, and good in warm places. But in cold conditions, it just does not make enough heat. The cool air is cooling off the plate and the chicks, and the plate cannot produce enough heat to keep up with that.

Check the instructions for your brooder plate, or measure with a thermometer, or sit out there and listen for peeping unhappy chicks. Any of those will tell if the plate you have is warm enough for the chicks you have at the temperatures you have.

Our nighttime temps are in the 40s and 50s. The brooder has two 10"x10" brooder plates for 15 chicks.

Does it also need an ambient heat lamp at night for new chicks (one and two days old)?

If the chicks are shipped, I would add a heat lamp for at least the first day and night. Shipped chicks have had stressful travel, and they are cold and hungry and thirsty all at once. A heat lamp can let them warm up while they are eating and drinking, but a brooder plate does not.

Once they are warm and have eaten a few good meals, the chicks can alternate eating and warming up. But right at first, shipped chicks need everything at once, and a heat lamp makes that possible.

If you are raising chicks that you hatched in an incubator, they may be fine from the very beginning. They have just absorbed the egg yolk, which provides enough food for several days (shipped chicks have used up almost all of this). And they were not chilled and stressed during shipping. So they do not need to warm up from a badly-chilled state, just from a slightly-cool condition after each meal. And they are not almost-starving, so they can eat snacks when they are warm enough and not have a problem.