Rule of Thumb for Brooding Day-Old Chicks

Here’s another good old-time rule that most people have forgotten:

“The floor of the brooder must be warm and dry to the touch before you add chicks.”

If the baby chicks get chilled as soon as you take them out of the shipping box, bad things happen. They lose the desire to eat and drink, and sometimes the ability to move, if they’re chilled. Cold or damp litter is enough to chill them.

Usually you should turn on the brooder the day before the chicks arrive. This is no time to try to reduce energy consumption.

I Publish Books! Norton Creek Press

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this issue. Most of my posts are based on input from people like you, so leave a comment below!

Author: Robert Plamondon

Robert Plamondon has written three books, received over 30 U.S. patents, founded several businesses, is an expert on free-range chickens, and is a semi-struggling novelist. His publishing company, Norton Creek Press, is a treasure trove of the best poultry books of the last 100 years. In addition, he holds down a day job doing technical writing at Workspot.

One thought on “Rule of Thumb for Brooding Day-Old Chicks”

  1. Thanks for that comment. That’s a point I haven’t seen mentioned in any of the books I’ve been looking at and I would never have thought of it on my own. You may have just saved some of my chicks, scheduled to arrive the first of next month.

Leave a Reply