The right temp

[SandyRiverChick]

I'm curious as to what others will think of the fact that I take baby chicks from their farm store heat lamp temp of around 90 to my brooder where it is 75.... I DO have a "mommy hut" where the heating pad provides a warmer place (not at all sure what the temp is under there.) But they spend an equal amount of time sleeping under it as they do outside of it. And I DO have a low wattage heat lamp in order to get it to 75, but I DONT use my big orange 250 anymore. And this is my 3rd time around with babies. They seem completely content in 75. I wonder why such a high temp of 95 is recommended when I don't see them huddling together and acting cold. I personally feel like 95 is to much heat. Anyone else raise babies in less heat or am I out on my own planet?

 

[DobieLover]

I'm curious as to what others will think of the fact that I take baby chicks from their farm store heat lamp temp of around 90 to my brooder where it is 75.... I DO have a "mommy hut" where the heating pad provides a warmer place (not at all sure what the temp is under there.) But they spend an equal amount of time sleeping under it as they do outside of it. And I DO have a low wattage heat lamp in order to get it to 75, but I DONT use my big orange 250 anymore. And this is my 3rd time around with babies. They seem completely content in 75. I wonder why such a high temp of 95 is recommended when I don't see them huddling together and acting cold. I personally feel like 95 is to much heat. Anyone else raise babies in less heat or am I out on my own planet?

I raised my last batch in the built-in brooder in my coop with a brooder plate with a towel over it. It got below freezing many nights. I always had a jacket on when going out to the coop. It was chilly. They thrived.
If they got cold, they darted under the plate. Otherwise they were ripping around the brooder.
I also had no cases of pasty butt. One chick was constipated within the first three days of arrival at the PO but that was from shipping stress.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I raised my last batch in the built-in brooder in my coop with a brooder plate with a towel over it. It got below freezing many nights. I always had a jacket on when going out to the coop. It was chilly. They thrived.
If they got cold, they darted under the plate. Otherwise they were ripping around the brooder.
I also had no cases of pasty butt. One chick was constipated within the first three days of arrival at the PO but that was from shipping stress.
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Love it! Great set up. I've read a lot about pasty butt and I too have never have experienced it. I do feel like the mild temps explain why.....

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree that 95 is too hot in many cases. I think that recommendation is for minimizing losses in large scale set ups (same with the "traditional" heat lamp, which is best designed for heating much larger groups than most backyard flock owners would ever have).

What I love about heat pads/plates is it allows the chicks to decide what they're comfortable with. And most chicks seem comfortable warming up for a bit, and then running about for a bit. And in conjunction with natural daylight, they'll quietly go to sleep at night (instead of peeping throughout the night) and actively learn to be chickens during the day.

 

[aart]

I personally feel like 95 is to much heat. Anyone else raise babies in less heat or am I out on my own planet?

It can be especially if the whole brooder is that hot(see below).
But most important here is that the heat is not measured the same with a lamp as with a pad/plate.
The lamp heat heats floor of the brooder, the pad/plate heats by the chicks touching the surface. If you use an infrared temp gauge on the surface of the pad/plate, you'll find it pretty darn 'warm'....~110°F.


Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I use a heat lamp (brooder in garage) and make sure the chicks have plenty of room to come and go as they please. I don't use thermometers or check anything. They move under on colder nights and away if they get warmer. Simple.

 

[aart]

I don't use thermometers or check anything.

I don't either so much anymore,
except just out of curiosity(I like to 'measure' things)...
...but the thermometers are a good tool for newbies.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I agree that 95 is too hot in many cases. I think that recommendation is for minimizing losses in large scale set ups (same with the "traditional" heat lamp, which is best designed for heating much larger groups than most backyard flock owners would ever have).

What I love about heat pads/plates is it allows the chicks to decide what they're comfortable with. And most chicks seem comfortable warming up for a bit, and then running about for a bit. And in conjunction with natural daylight, they'll quietly go to sleep at night (instead of peeping throughout the night) and actively learn to be chickens during the day.

That makes so much sense.... I think newbies will follow the 95* advice even with just a few chicks because that "guideline," is literally published everywhere for chicks 101, and therefore you wouldn't know that on a small scale it's dangerous. For the first week while they're in my house, they're right here next to my desk and what I see all day is long (I work from home,) is all behaviors that = they're at the right temp. They never huddle, they never scatter, they run around and sleep everywhere, not just under the MH or the light.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That makes so much sense.... I think newbies will follow the 95* advice even with just a few chicks because that "guideline," is literally published everywhere for chicks 101, and therefore you wouldn't know that on a small scale it's dangerous.

I wouldn't say it's outright "dangerous" except maybe a higher rate of pasty butt and higher fire risk, esp the 250 watt bulbs that aren't securely attached (makes me nervous when I see people's photos where they only use the clamp to secure, or even have the bulb resting on the top of brooder!)

We originally brooded in the bathroom with a heat lamp. Even with the bulb secured well away from the bathtub (brooder) you could feel how ridiculously hot it was. It's just not a good choice for a confined area. I could smell the bulb burning off the red coating - that's pretty scary.