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My uncle swore a single heat lamp was plenty for 12 chicks in March, and I paid for that advice in a cold snap
When I got my first batch of chicks two springs ago, my uncle (who kept birds for years back in Ohio) waved off my worries and said one red heat lamp hanging in the corner of a big brooder would be plenty for 12 chicks. Sounded easy enough, so I skipped the second lamp and didn't bother with a thermometer at chick height. Then we got a night that dropped to 28 degrees in early April and I walked out to find the chicks all huddled in one tight ball on the far side, peeping loud and stressed. Two of them got pasty butt and one just never seemed to catch up after that. I moved the lamp lower and added a second one the next morning, but I feel like those first two weeks set that batch back. Now I keep a cheap thermometer right at their level and check it every morning before work. Did any of you learn the hard way that bigger brooders need more than one heat source, or was it something else that got your chicks?
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blairwhite2d ago
28 degrees in April is a stretch for most of the country, so I'd pump the brakes on blaming the lamp setup. Honest take, one 250 watt red bulb in a corner is exactly what tons of old timers ran with 25 to 30 chicks in a 4x4 box and it worked fine for decades. Your real problem sounds like the brooder was too big for the bulb size, and a second lamp just masks that by heating more air instead of giving them a proper warm zone to park under. Twelve chicks will pile up no matter what if the draft hits them, so I'd look at the box before I'd blame your uncle.
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