You will need to make a brood box, for a start about a metre across I should think, to pen them in for the first few weeks. Either use a very large box, (if you've just bought a new oven!) or invent a way of creating a pen with solid sides. If you have some curvy stuff, such as cardboard, you can join the ends to make a circle, which might then be expanded as they grow. It needs to be about 2 ft high minimum. You may need to make a wire frame to cover the top to prevent them jumping out. If you can line the sides with the sort of silver insulation you put behind radiators, the box will retain heat right to the outsides more effectively. The box needs to be big enough for them to move away from the heat lamp if they get too warm, so with 8 large breed chicks the box will need to be large enough for them to do this. You will be surprised at how fast they grow! When they are bigger you can let them out in the conservatory during the day for extra space and they can still roost in the box at night. They don't need perches for the first few months.
There are several ways of heating them. Its best for them if they have a 12-hour day, so you will need to supplement the light to provide this, and if you can offer some UV this would be very helpful I expect. But also its good for them to have 12 hours of darkness to rest naturally. If you use a red lamp, they will stay warm at night but will not get proper darkness. It would be worth investing in a ceramic dull emitter lamp, which only gives out heat and no light. See this link http://countryfayre-countrystore.co.uk/incubation-accessories/ceramic-dull-emitter-150w/prod_255.html I would buy the medium wattage one. To go with this you will need a metal bulb holder, from the Incubation Accessories section of the same website. This comes with a strong chain, which you suspend above the box. This has the advantage that you can alter the temperature by hooking the lamp up higher or lower. I found that it needed to be lowered at night when the temperature dropped, and this will be especially noticeable in the colder months. If you can get this right, you won't need to heat the whole conservatory to such a temperature, which will be much more economical. Buy a max- min greenhouse thermometer if you don't already have one and place it in the box, halfway between the area under the lamp and the edge, to find out what is going on at night. If you can get it right, you may be able to avoid the effects of the conservatory getting cold at night, without having to heat the whole place full blast all winter. The chicks will tell you if they are too cold or too hot, by moving away from the lamp or huddling under it. They should be evenly spread out over the area when active during the day, and sleeping under the central area at night.
You'll need to set this up in advance, and test the temperature, to ensure that you know how to control it and what the lamp will produce at various heights. Also the box needs to be well warmed up, bedding and all, for 24 hours before the chicks arrive, to avoid thermal shock.
The other way to heat chicks is by using an electric hen, such as the Brinsea Ecoglow, see website link above. This is a heating pad that they can get under to warm up, much as they would under a hen. I think 8 chicks 3 weeks old would easily fit under one of these, but as they will need heat at night for much longer than chicks hatched in Spring, I'm not sure if it would be so useful for them as they grew. Also the instructions on mine say that they should only be used where the ambient temperature is 10C. I've found that chicks are less active if relying on these for heat, as they tend to huddle under them and only emerge when hungry enough to feed. Under a lamp, they are more inclined to run around actively all the time. however, I'm talking about quail chicks, which are tiny, so maybe other people can advise on the use of Ecoglows with larger birds for more weeks.
I would line the base with layers of newspaper and top this off with wood shavings, which you will need to poo pick frequently, they are really messy little things. Get a proper chick drinker and feeder, again see Country Fayre for examples, - not the very small ones, as your chicks will be 3 weeks old and thus eating and drinking well we hope, but its important to try to prevent them scratching and pooing in food and water. Keeping the area dry and clean is vital, as of they eat bits of food off a damp warm floor, it may become contaminated with coccidiosis and this is fatal and highly contagious. You may think its a good idea to get some Coxoid, which is stuff you can add to their drinking water if you spot what might be the first signs of cocci. You probably won't need it, but if you do, immediate treatment is the best option. You could support the drinker and feeder up on a concrete block or a brick, so it's at chest height for the smallest chick. This will help keep the contents clean. I do this with my adult hens and it does help.
How are they going to manage the journey from the breeder to you? Are they going to be delivered or will you collect them? If the latter, you'll need to invent an insulated box, maybe with a heat pad or hot water bottle in the base, covered with a towel, but well ventilated as well.
Good luck, we shall be very interested in how you get on.
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