[nuzuki]

Thanks for the replies. Out of interest can the puppy pads be washed or are they a disposable item? I have just been using tea towels and washing/disinfecting them. They have been eating the kitchen roll from underneath the tea towel, they must of eaten about 6 sheets of the stuff the other day. I almost thought id forgotten to put it in there then I noticed them scratching back the tea towel and pecking at the tissue. So now im using just the grip matt stuff and a tea towel on top then another folded tea towel put in a corner as a nesting/sleeping area.

On a side note can I turn off the heat lamp as the brooder temperature seems to be a constant 26deg C with the nice weather we've been having. I guess I should ask whats more important to the chick, heat or light? I was thinking of swapping the heat bulb over to a energy saving bulb to give them light but not as much heat. Sometimes the brooder gets upto 32deg C. I have it controlled by a thermostat the only problem is that means the light is rarely coming on if it senses the temp is ok.

[splash101]

The mats are disposible. I dont think you will need the grip mat anymore (how old are they?)

When mine were 10 days old i gradually started reducing the tempreture and it was long after that they were off the heat in the day with just reduced heating at night.
You need to see how they are behaving, if they are bunched up tightly they are cold.

At 17 days they were off the heat all together (but were indoors so it's still warm at nightime) I started taking the brooder outside for a couple of hours and kept an eye on the tempreture

Since we have been having better weather i put them in a small run in the garden just whilst cleaning them out with to start with as you will need to build them up gradually.

mine are 4 weeks old on Wednesday. they are in the run from 1st thing in the morning until 8.30pm (they let me know when its time to come in and we put them in the brooder to sleep (no lid but a mesh panel over the top to stop them leaping out.
I put a perch in the run this week and made sure they have alot of shaded area as it has been really warm here this week.

If you can take the brooder out in the good weather they can have heat and light (make sure they have some shade so they dont overheat.