Questions & Answers About Brooders and Brooding Baby Chicks

Question: What is a Brooder?
Answer: A brooder is a heated enclosed area where baby chicks, turkey poults, or goslings are reared until they can maintain their body heat.
Question: Why would you need a brooder for baby chicks?
Baby chicks, turkey poults, and goslings cannot maintain their body heat until they grow and develop good feathering.
Question: What is the "Brooding Period" for baby chicks?
Answer: The "Brooding Period" is the period of time from they hatch until the time when they no longer need supplemental heat.
Question: How long does the "Brooding Period" last-when baby chicks no longer need extra heat?
Answer: The Brooding Period can last 3-6 weeks depending on seasonal temperatures and the type of housing they are kept in.  As the baby chicks grow their downy coat is replaced by feathers. Once the feathers are grown you can start reducing the brooder temperatures. If your chicks are kept indoors and the weather is warm you can usually stop supplemental heat at 3 weeks. If your chicks are kept in an outdoor coop and weather is cold you will need to make sure you can maintain the heat temperatures where they are located and they will need heat for a longer period of time (up to 6 weeks).
Question: Why do baby chicks need extra heat?
Answer: Baby chicks need supplemental heat because they are unable to maintain their body temperatures.
Question: What do I need to provide for baby chicks in a brooder?
Answer: Brooding baby chicks need warmth, shelter, fresh air, proper baby chick feed, and clean fresh water. A typical brooder contains a heat lamp or brooder heating plate,  food, water, and bedding such as large pine shavings (not fine pine shavings). I actually had a baby chick swallow a piece of fine pine shaving and it was so sharp from being dried from the heat lamp that it poked out thru his gullet and had to be removed. It left a huge hole in the chicks gullet, but the hole did heal and the chick survived. See more about questions and answers about brooders below plus recommended brooder temperatures.

Questions & Answers About Brooder Temperatures

Question: Where in the brooder do I measure the temperature?
Answer: Brooder temperatures should be taken at chick height.
Question: How often do I need to check the temperature in the brooder?
Answer: You should check on your baby chicks every few hours. If they are panting it means they are too hot and if they are huddled together near the heat source, peeping loudly and huddling, they are too cold. Adjust the heat lamp or heat plate accordingly.
"The brooder must be capable of providing a temperature of 33°C (91.4 Fahrenheit), even in the coldest conditions. It must be adjustable, so that a steady temperature can be maintained. Simple electric hobby brooders can be obtained from poultry equipment suppliers, and will successfully brood up to 50 chicks. The brooding temperature for day old chicks should be 33°C  (91.4 Fahrenheit) at the level of the chickens’ backs; that is, about 50 mm (1.9685 inches) above the litter. As the chickens grow, the temperature can be adjusted. Temperature should be reduced gradually by 1°C every 2–3 days" (Bolla, 2018). See correct recommended brooder temperature by age below and more...

Correct Recommended Brooder Temperatures At Chick Height-by Age

Age: 1-3 days old--Temperature to maintain: ​33°C (91.4 Fahrenheit)
Age: 4-6 days old--Temperature to maintain: 32°C (89.6 Fahrenheit)
Age: 7-13 days old--Temperature to maintain 30°C (86 Fahrenheit)
Age: 14-20 days old--Temperature to maintain 26°C (78.8 Fahrenheit)
Age: 21-27 days old--Temperature to maintain 22°C (71.6 Fahrenheit)
Age: 28 days old--Temperature to maintain 20°C (68 Fahrenheit)

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References: ​Bolla, Gerry (2018). Dpi.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2 February 2018, from https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/203521/small-scale-brooding-rearing-chickens.pdf