Put in the day your chicks or ducklings hatched, or the day they arrive. You get the brooder temperature for this week, and every week after it with its dates, from four university extension services. Where they disagree, both answers are shown and named. Add the temperature of the room or coop the brooder is in, and it tells you the week the heat can come off. It also says when they can go outside, and how to keep a heat lamp from starting a fire.
Chicks · week 1
90–95 °F this week
Every year chicken coops burn down from heat lamps. Hang a lamp by a chain, never by its cord, and keep it well away from the bedding.
Week by week
Is it right? Watch them
Heat lamp or heat plate
Brooding temperatures checked 2026-09-27: UNH, Kentucky, Penn State and Alabama extension services.
Quick answer: start the brooder at 90 to 95 °F in the first week, measured at chick height, 2 inches above the bedding. Then take 5 °F off every week. UNH and Kentucky’s extension services start at 90–95 °F; Penn State and Alabama at 95 °F. By week 6 you are at about 65–70 °F, which is where UNH takes the brooder away, or when the brooder and the room match. Penn State goes down to 62–65 °F. Chicks can go outside at about 6 weeks, once they are well feathered. Ducklings need less: Kentucky starts them at 86 °F. Put in the hatch day and the planner gives every week with its dates.
The week-by-week schedule
Every source here uses the same step: 5 °F less each week. Penn State: “Supply 95°F at chick level under the heat source for the first week. Decrease the heat by 5°F per week until the normal daily temperature is reached (62-65 degrees F).” UNH starts a touch lower: “A heat lamp will keep the temperature with in the ideal range of 90- 95 degrees for the first week.” Kentucky agrees with UNH: “When using a brooder, set the initial temperature at 90ºF to 95°F, measuring the temperature 2 in. above the floor, under the edge of the hover. Reduce the temperature by 5°F each week until supplemental heat is no longer required.” Alabama sides with Penn State: “The temperature should be 95 degrees F to start and decrease 5 degrees weekly until the chicks appear comfortable at the temperature in the coop where they will be moved.” The difference is 5 °F in the first week, and the planner shows both columns rather than splitting it.
How long do chicks need a heat lamp?
About six weeks, and longer if the room is cold. UNH: “The brooder guard can be removed after one week and the brooder can be removed after the temperature under the brooder is in the 65 to 70 degree range, or when the brooder and outside temperature match.” Kentucky puts feathers first: “Provide supplemental heat until the hatchlings are well feathered. Birds are more likely to develop respiratory problems if heat is removed too early. In winter, heat should be continued for the first six weeks after birds arrive, even if the birds are fully feathered, to prevent waterers from freezing.” Put in the temperature of the room or coop the brooder is in, and the planner gives you the week the two meet.
When can chicks go outside?
Not before six weeks. Penn State: “Be sure that chicks don’t get chilled during extremely cold nights or experience large temperature swings for the first 6 weeks of age.” After that it depends on the chicks and the weather. Go when they are well feathered and the nights aren’t cold, and move them into a coop that is ready for them. The coop size calculator tells you how much room they will need. Hatching your own? The incubation planner gives the hatch day to start from.
Ducklings are different
Kentucky: “Ducklings do not require as high a brooding temperature as chicks. At hatch ducklings require a temperature of about 86°F. The temperature can be reduced by 5°F each week until it reaches 55°F.” They feather faster too: “By four weeks of age, ducklings should be fully feathered.” Keep them dry until then: “Do not let young waterfowl swim or become excessively wet for the first four weeks of life. Young birds that become wet chill easily, and when chilled, they tend to crowd together and flip onto their backs, resulting in death.” Pick “Ducklings” in the planner for their schedule.
Watch the chicks, not just the thermometer
UNH: “Chicks that are cold will huddle together under the heat lamp. Chicks that are too warm will move as far from the lamp as the brooder ring will allow.” And when it is right: “If the temperature is just right the chicks will be evenly distributed with in the brooder area, softly chirping and pecking around.” Measure where they live. Alabama: “Although it is easier to measure the temperature at your eye level, it is important to measure the temperature at the bird level, which is 2 inches above the bedding.”
Heat lamps start fires
This is the part that matters most. Kentucky: “Each year, chicken coops (and some attached houses) have been lost to fires caused by heat lamps.” If you use a lamp, hang it properly: “Suspend the lamp with a chain or wire (do not use the electrical cord) so that the lamp is at least 18 in. above the bedding material.” Penn State’s rule is a little stricter: “As a rule, heat lamps should be at least 20 inches from any flammable material.” Bedding burns, so of those two, 20 inches is the safer height. Kentucky raises the lamp as the chicks grow: “Each week, decrease supplemental heat by raising the heat lamp 2 in. until it reaches a maximum height of 24 in.” UNH adds two things people forget: “Be sure that the lamp does not get close enough to catch the bedding on fire” and “Protect the bulb from splashing water (water splashed on the hot bulb will shatter it); where possible use a ‘Hard Glass’ bulb”.
What about a heat plate?
A heat plate, or brooder plate, is a low electric hover the chicks sit under. Minnesota’s extension service counts it as a radiant heater: “Radiant heat sources heat the birds but not the surrounding air space. Radiant heaters include brooder plates, panels, and hanging heaters.” Penn State lists hovers alongside lamps: “Each works satisfactorily as long as it is set up in a safe manner and maintains a constant temperature comfortable for the chicks.” Every fire warning quoted on this page is about lamps. No extension service here gives plates their own temperature schedule, though, so set a plate’s height the way its maker says and watch the chicks. Minnesota’s rule covers both: “Be sure that the product you select is approved for use around chickens and livestock. Always read fire risk warnings and follow installation instructions when using heaters.”