Chick Brooder Temperature Calculator
Tells you the right brooder temperature for your chicks' age, plus the full week-by-week schedule.
- Target temperature (week 1)
- 95°F
- measured at chick level, under the heat source
- Still needs a heat source?
- Yes
- about 6 week(s) of heat left
| Week | Brooder temperature |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | 95°F |
| Week 2 | 90°F |
| Week 3 | 85°F |
| Week 4 | 80°F |
| Week 5 | 75°F |
| Week 6 | 70°F |
| Week 7+ | No supplemental heat (once ~65°F ambient / fully feathered) |
The short answer
Newly hatched chicks need 95°F at chick level under the heat source for their first week, then 5°F cooler every week after that until they reach room temperature (about 65°F) around week 6. Enter your chicks' age above for the target, or read the whole schedule off the table.
How this works
Chicks can't regulate their own body temperature for the first few weeks — that's the job a broody hen would do, and in a brooder it's yours. The schedule is simple and comes straight from Pennsylvania State University Extension: 95°F at chick level in week one, dropping 5°F each week until the brooder matches the ~65°F of a normal room. By about six weeks the chicks are feathered enough to hold their own heat and can come off supplemental warmth entirely.
The single most important detail is where you measure. The number that matters is at the chicks' level — a couple of inches above the bedding, directly under the heat source — not the warmer air near the top of the brooder. Lay a cheap thermometer on the bedding under the lamp and set the height to that reading.
Better still, let the chicks tell you. Temperature charts are a starting point; chick behavior is the real gauge. Chicks piled directly under the heat, cheeping loudly, are cold — lower the lamp. Chicks pressed to the far corners are too hot. When they're spread evenly across the brooder, eating, drinking, and dozing in little scattered heaps, you've got it right, whatever the thermometer says.
A worked example
You brought home day-old chicks and set the brooder to 95°F. Two weeks later they're feathering along their wings, so you're in week three — the table says 85°F, so you raise the lamp a few inches until the thermometer at bedding level reads 85. Keep stepping down 5°F a week. If they'll graduate to an unheated coop, don't do it the day the schedule hits 65°F — harden them off over a few mild days first, and watch the first cold night closely.
Frequently asked questions
- What temperature should a chick brooder be?
- 95°F at chick level under the heat source for the first week, then 5°F cooler each week — 90°F in week 2, 85°F in week 3, and so on — until you reach the normal room temperature of about 65°F. This schedule comes from Pennsylvania State University Extension.
- How do I know if the temperature is right without a thermometer?
- Watch the chicks. If they huddle in a pile directly under the heat, they are cold — lower the lamp or raise the temperature. If they press against the far walls away from the heat, they are too hot. Comfortable chicks spread out evenly across the brooder and chirp contentedly. Chick behavior is more reliable than any single thermometer reading.
- How long do chicks need a heat lamp?
- About 6 weeks in most cases — until the brooder schedule reaches ambient temperature and the chicks are fully feathered. Chicks raised in a warm house may be ready sooner; chicks going out to an unheated coop in winter may need heat a little longer. Feathering, not the calendar alone, is the real signal.
- Where exactly do I measure brooder temperature?
- At the chicks' level — about 2 inches above the bedding, directly under the heat source — not at the top of the brooder where the air is warmer. A cheap thermometer laid on the bedding under the lamp gives you the number that actually matters.
- Is a heat plate better than a heat lamp?
- A radiant heat plate (which the chicks go under, like a broody hen) is safer than a heat lamp — no fire risk from bulbs, and it lets chicks self-regulate by moving in and out. With a plate you adjust the height rather than chase an air temperature, but the same principle applies: warm the first week, cooler each week as the chicks feather out.