The year 2012 brought a terrible drought and the beginning of weather upheaval. I’ve always started with baby chicks in April with its relatively settled weather. Now I’m juggling baby chicks and weather every year.
Baby Chick Requirements
Other than the obvious food purchased from the feed store and water from the well, baby chicks require a warm, not too hot, temperature. a heat lamp with a light bulb worked quite well as the wattage could be increased or decreased as necessary.
Now LED bulbs give off no heat. This necessitates purchasing a heat bulb. They come in two sizes: 250W which is much too hot for my little chick house and old heat lamp or 150W which works most of the time.
Setting Up
As the heat lamp won’t heat the entire chick house, there are several things I do ahead of the chick arrival day. One is to put down paper, enough layers to last ten to fourteen days, on the back half of the house.
Some sources discourage using paper. The print on newspaper can confuse baby chicks looking for food. Paper is slick making walking harder.
I still use paper and haven’t seen much of either problem. What I appreciate is the ease of cleaning, another important aspect of raising chicks. When the paper gets dirty (usually every day), I move the food and water containers out for refilling, roll up the top paper layer making sure the chicks move off of it as I roll and end up with clean paper to put the food and water containers back on.
Then I divide the house with a cardboard barrier. The back half of the house is plenty big enough for twenty chicks for two weeks, about the time it takes for them to mostly feather out.
Baby Chicks and Weather
The chick house has two windows and a door, all closed. The heat lamp is suspended from a roost over the back section and turned on. Chicks are turned loose in the section.
On warm days the chicks wander around the section. They eat, drink and sleep. they move under the light or out as they need to.
On hot days a window or both plus the door on really hot days are opened. The light is not turned off, but the heat leaves. The barrier can be moved over to give the chicks more room to escape the direct heat.
Cold days are another matter. Blankets are draped over the roost. This is safe as the lamp is below the roost. They can even be placed to surround the section.
Balancing these conditions wasn’t too hard for years. Things have changed. Now conditions can change from one day to another or even from day to night. Occasionally conditions change during the day.
Baby chicks and weather may be challenging now. Still, those fresh pullet eggs next winter are worth the time and trouble.