Brooder Plate in 70 Degree Room - Warm Enough?

[Dreammaker]

Hi!

Our day-old chicks are arriving in a couple days and I'd love thoughts on our game plan:

We have a pop-up pen set up inside our sitting room and are using a brooder plate. The room temperature is usually around 65-68, but I can turn the heat up to around low 70s if need be. I haven't measured the temperature under the plate, but the plate itself doesn't feel really hot to the touch, just nice and toasty warm.

Is the brooder plate in a 70-degree room enough for day-old chicks? Do I need to bring in a space heater? If so, does it need to be on 24/7? (Not keen on that or a heat lamp; I get worried about fire risk).

Thanks!

 

[DobieLover]

I'd turn the heat OFF in the room. Outdoor ambient temperature is best for the brooder environment away from the heat source. I used a brooder plate with an old towel tossed over it in sub-freezing temperatures in the built-in brooder in my coop and the chicks did great.

 

[teachchickmi]

It should be warm enough with the room with the brooder plate. I had a mishap with a few chicks early on with temperature, so I turned on a space heater at night for a few hours (2-4) to make sure the room was warm enough when my chicks were little little and the temperatures outside were 10-32 degrees.


Good luck!

 

[MamaWolf4]

Yes!! It's absolutely warm enough. In fact, it may be too warm. Check your brooder plate - it will tell you how low of a temperature it can accommodate. If your chicks run in and out of the brooder plate during the day, you know your room is warm enough.

 

[FrostRanger]

I brooded mine in my bathroom where temps were in the 50's or 60's. I had to run a space heater a few times when the temp dropped too much for their comfort, but other than that they were totally fine and off heat completely by 4 weeks

 

[Dreammaker]

Thanks, everyone! The ambient temp + brooder plate seems to be just fine. They've been happily exploring their pop-up pen and go under the plate for bedtime and little naps here and there. So far, so good I'm going to try opening the window near them to get them acclimatized to the outdoor temperature. After Memorial Day weekend, which puts them at about 4 or 5 weeks old, I will probably move them outdoors. Time to buy or build a mini coop before they head into their permanent one!