New to chicks and chickens

Hi everyone,
I’m new to chicks, chickens and chicken keeping. I bought 10 Red Production chicks last Friday from a place close to my home. By the following Thursday 4 died and I went back and got replacement chicks, that are now a week behind my current chicks. They are RIR and Americana chicks.
Long story short I’m keeping them in my laundry room in a tote with a red light lamp. The reason I give this background information is because I feel it’s necessary to understand my hesitation, as 4 of my original 10 passed even though I tried to keep them alive by giving them scrambled eggs, vitamins and electrolytes. We don’t have a garage at our home and will be taking them to my grandmothers building in the next few day for them to stay until we get their coop built. My concern is that it will get too cold in the building at night, the lows will be in the 50’s but will likely start staying in the mid 60’s, I know that they need heat until they are 8 weeks old and plan on putting heat out there with them, and what they will be living in is a pet “playpen” with open sides. I also recently bought a rentacoop heat plate but I’m really unsure how to adjust it so they are getting warm enough. So do I need to put something around the edges to keep air flow from making them cold?

Any photos of your set up? I don't know what happened to the ones that didn't make it (they could've had a rough ride to the feed store and were weak before they ever landed in your hands).

So you're going to get differing advice on this, but I think the general advice of "95F and then lower it 5F a week" is too hot and too conservative. I take newly arrived chicks from the feed store and brood them outside with lows around mid 40s... the chicks I have right now saw temps below 40. Some folks have brooded outdoors down in the 20s. They do need a hot spot (like a brooder plate) that's closer to 90F but otherwise benefit from having cool areas away from that.

They don't need heat until 8 weeks, I routinely take it away around 4-5 weeks. Since you will have them in some sort of building (shed, garage) I can't image drafts would be an issue even with an open sided pen. So don't feel the need to close up the brooding area, they do need good ventilation.

For setting up the heat plate, you want it set at an angle with one side higher than the other, with the low side low enough that chicks can touch it while sitting down, and the high side high enough that they can touch it while standing. And then adjust that as they grow.

rosemarythyme said:

Any photos of your set up? I don't know what happened to the ones that didn't make it (they could've had a rough ride to the feed store and were weak before they ever landed in your hands).

So you're going to get differing advice on this, but I think the general advice of "95F and then lower it 5F a week" is too hot and too conservative. I take newly arrived chicks from the feed store and brood them outside with lows around mid 40s... the chicks I have right now saw temps below 40. Some folks have brooded outdoors down in the 20s. They do need a hot spot (like a brooder plate) that's closer to 90F but otherwise benefit from having cool areas away from that.

They don't need heat until 8 weeks, I routinely take it away around 4-5 weeks. Since you will have them in some sort of building (shed, garage) I can't image drafts would be an issue even with an open sided pen. So don't feel the need to close up the brooding area, they do need good ventilation.

For setting up the heat plate, you want it set at an angle with one side higher than the other, with the low side low enough that chicks can touch it while sitting down, and the high side high enough that they can touch it while standing. And then adjust that as they grow.

Click to expand...

I don’t have photos right now because it’s not set up yet, we are doing it tomorrow.
My chicks that died were fine Friday-Tuesday and then 4 of them appeared weak and wouldn’t eat, drink or move and passed.
So even if the temps are in the 50’s I wouldn’t need to board up the sides of the open pen? I think I’d prefer to use the brooder plate I just am nervous that it won’t be set up correctly. I messed with it for an hour earlier and couldn’t seem to get it adjusted correctly

Jessiasher said:

So even if the temps are in the 50’s I wouldn’t need to board up the sides of the open pen? I think I’d prefer to use the brooder plate I just am nervous that it won’t be set up correctly. I messed with it for an hour earlier and couldn’t seem to get it adjusted correctly

Click to expand...

Not in an indoor set up. Of course I don't know what kind of building your grandmother has, if it's a drafty old barn that would be different than a sturdy shed, for example.

With the plate, I think once you have the chicks under it you can kind of tell if it's too high or too low, and adjust from there. You can even use bricks or blocks to help "raise" one side if the adjustment on the plate is difficult to use.

rosemarythyme said:

Not in an indoor set up. Of course I don't know what kind of building your grandmother has, if it's a drafty old barn that would be different than a sturdy shed, for example.

With the plate, I think once you have the chicks under it you can kind of tell if it's too high or too low, and adjust from there. You can even use bricks or blocks to help "raise" one side if the adjustment on the plate is difficult to use.

Click to expand...

It’s an older metal shed but not really drafty. The only draft might be from the door

The rentacoop heat plate should have a post on each corner. Use @rosemarythyme advice and keep the back end low so they can physically touch the plate and the front up a couple of inches so they can find their own sweet spot. I know the new place isn't set up yet, but do you have any pics of what you're currently brooding them in?

Ryguy3684 said:

The rentacoop heat plate should have a post on each corner. Use @rosemarythyme advice and keep the back end low so they can physically touch the plate and the front up a couple of inches so they can find their own sweet spot. I know the new place isn't set up yet, but do you have any pics of what you're currently brooding them in?

Click to expand...

I know it’s small and not ideal for 10 chicks but it’s the best option I had at the time. That’s why I got this dog run so they can have more space as they grow. I also really tried to my research before buying. I just underestimated how much space they would need when I first got them

Have you checked the temperature on the cool side of the brooder box? It could be the reflection, but it looks like the cool side is still getting quite a bit of heat. They'll need a cool area as much as a warm area so they can regulate their body temp. If the cool side is too warm, you can angle the heat lamp so that it's only warming the one corner.

Ryguy3684 said:

Have you checked the temperature on the cool side of the brooder box? It could be the reflection, but it looks like the cool side is still getting quite a bit of heat. They'll need a cool area as much as a warm area so they can regulate their body temp. If the cool side is too warm, you can angle the heat lamp so that it's only warming the one corner.

Click to expand...

I have checked it and it’s about mid 70’s

Jessiasher said:

I know it’s small and not ideal for 10 chicks but it’s the best option I had at the time. That’s why I got this dog run so they can have more space as they grow. I also really tried to my research before buying. I just underestimated how much space they would need when I first got them

Click to expand...

They grow incredibly fast! I don't know how big the new set up will be but figure a minimum of 1 sq ft per chick by 4 weeks and 2 sq ft per by 8 weeks. Ideally you'll have them out and in the coop before they get to that point.