CHICK HEATING: HOW TO KEEP BABY CHICKENS WARM ALL DAY
Chick heating: How to keep baby chickens warm all day
Now that you have these little friends and you want to keep them or eventually sell them as day chicks, how do you keep them warm?
Is keeping them warm a necessary effort or something that can be neglected?
Well, knowing how important this is, we bring you detailed information about everything you need to know to keep chickens warm and prevent their death.
Achieving this will not only prevent chicks from dying, but will also improve marketing and farm productivity. Plus, you won’t need to waste your time and resources hatching eggs only to have them die from overheating or hypothermia.
But as the chicks grow, it is important that you know how to take care of them when they become pullers. Soon, let’s find out how to keep your chicks warm!!!
Read also:WHAT DO CHICKENS EAT TO GROW BIG?
Why do chicks need to be warm?
By nature, birds are warm-blooded animals. This means that on their own, they can maintain a constant body temperature even when the surrounding air is cold.
And their wings make the mask possible. However, young birds do not have many feathers, so they are at risk of catching cold and dying.
By nature, chicks will always use the mother hen’s feathers for warmth and protection. But in the case where they are planted in an incubator and there is no mother hen, what can be done?
This is where you come in as a caretaker or farmer. You need to provide artificial heat by creating a warm place for your chickens, otherwise it will die, thereby increasing the death rate of your chickens.
When this happens, you must be able to copy the mother Hen’s heat strategy. Therefore, why you need to understand heating chick.
How do I keep my baby chicks warm
Keeping your chicks warm is a great way to keep them alive after hatching.
Because heating the chicken is important, the new chicks should be kept at the best temperature without overheating.
How do you do that?
What are the important steps you need to take to get this job done without any effort? Here’s how to make your baby chick warm by heating;
1. Prepare the brooder
From the incubator, the chicks will go directly to the brooder. A brooder is a heated container used to raise poultry.
Before taking the chicks out of the incubator, the best thing is to prepare and prepare their brood 24 hours before they come in.
Make sure the brooder is free of rust, mites and other pests. Preparing the brooder is the first step in the brooder heating process.
2. Choose the right light bulb:
Once the brooder is set up to heat the chickens, the next step is to choose the right light bulb for the brooder. The heater serves as a source of light and heat for the chicks.
Best of all, we recommend an infrared lamp that emits 250 watts of heat. If this is out of reach, a ceramic heater may be a good option.
However, heat lamps such as electric heaters, ordinary incandescent bulbs and hot water radiators, and heaters are not recommended because they do not provide reliable heat and the best temperature. On top of that, they are hotter than your chicken.
To choose the right light bulb, buy red tinted bulbs instead of white or clear ones. Clear bulbs keeps the chicks awake and thinking it’s daytime, while babies exposed to a light/dark cycle are calmer and sleep better.
3. Set the heat lamp to the optimum temperature:
The next step is to set your heater to heat the chicks to the optimum temperature.
Some farmers use two low lamps rather than one high lamp.
This method was adopted to prevent the fire from going out completely.
When one fire goes out, the other can still feed the chicken. The best temperature to set the heater during the first week is 92 to 95 degree Fahrenheit.
Once the temperature is set to the ideal temperature, your chicks will be warm as soon as the lamp is turned on.
4. Turn on the heat lamp
After repairing the lamp, you have to lift the lamp. First, you need to put the bulb in a metal switch that has an adjustable lock and a ceramic socket.
Hang or place a lamp on the ground level, facing the ground, in the garden. For the best results, we recommend placing the lamp in one part of the enclosure so that the chickens can control their temperature by leaving the cold end while they are warm in the other.
Also put the lamp in a critical place where the heat can heat up all the chicks. Therefore, the reason why bulbs are not good is if you have a large brooder.
Obtain, install and place a light bulb in the necessary and sufficient place to heat all the chickens. Make sure that you turn on the lamp so that it does not fall or come into contact with anything that burns.
5. Adjust the temperature as they develop:
Now your chicks are warm and growing at the same time.
Keep an eye on them to know when they are getting too hot. High temperature or low temperature heating requires that the temperature be adjusted continuously until the heat is no longer needed.
To adjust the temperature of the heater, set it as follows;
Year (week) Ideal Temperature
1 192 – 95°F
2-3 85 – 90°F
3-5 80 – 85°F
5-8 70 – 80°F
8- room temperature
The table shows the best temperature for hot chicken.
Read also:WHAT ARE BROILERS AND HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE?
How do you regulate the heating lamp?
Simply adjust the temperature of your incubator by adjusting the knob up and down. If you are using a charcoal heater, you will need to remove some of the heating elements to keep the temperature down.
With these methods, your brood are ready to accept and keep your baby chicks warm until they no longer need to be warm. Turn on the chicken lamp a day before adding your chicks.
How do you know when to adjust the temperature of the brooder?
There are recommended temperatures to keep baby chicks warm each week, according to research from the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension program.
However, we don’t recommend a quick change in temperature just because a new week calls for it. Before adjusting the temperature of the brooder, this is what gives you an idea to continue or maintain the same temperature;
1. Check the behavior of the chick:
Basically, the chick’s behavior will tell you when to increase or decrease the brooder temperature. This is why you should monitor the behavior of your chicks.
If the chicks are comfortable, they will spread out more or less well around the brooding area. On top of that, cold chicks will stick together under the lamp.
Because if they get too hot, they will stand apart not just from themselves but also from the lamp. The behavior of the chicks will send you the message “reduce or increase the temperature”.
2. Chicks foot examination:
If chicks aren’t sending any messages from their behavior, look at their feet.
How to tell it?
Looking at the chicks’ feet will give you an idea of their temperature preferences.
As soon as you touch the cold chicks feet, they will become cold, swollen or puffed up. whereas if they are too hot, their legs will appear dry, withered or thin.
Don’t make the mistake of using your own body temperature to regulate your chicks’ temperature. That being said, these signs will help you adjust the temperature as needed.
How do you keep the chicken warm without a light bulb?
Can I keep my baby chicks warm without a heat lamp?
Yes, you can heat without a heat lamp.
Some options to explore include:
1. Using a hot water bottle:
Heat 2 or 3 hot water bottles, wrap them in a towel and put them in the brooder.
These hot water serve as a source of heat. However, they must be closed so that the chickens do not have direct access to them to avoid burns.
This option will not be effective in a heated room because it requires a high ambient temperature.
2. Warm the birds using brooder:
By getting a brooder, you can heat your baby chicks without a heat lamb. Brooders provide good heat for chicks, unlike heat lamps that can overheat.
They are cheap and cost less to operate.
3. Use a heated pad:
Another option for using heat for your chickens is to use heating pads. When the chicks are 1 month old, a heating pad can be introduced.
How does it work?
Place the pad on the wall of the brooder.
This will warm the brooder ambiently.
4. Keep the crowd:
Another way to heat chicks without a heat lamb is to raise a flock of chicks. A group of chicks can be warmer than a small group.
This is a natural method for the chicks to keep warm.
5. Give chicks a good thick beds:
A nice thick chicken bed will help keep the chicks warm. It should be soft and deep.
Using these methods helps you to keep the chicks warm without using a heat lamp.
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