Heat lamp

do you leave your heat lamp on when you are not home? It makes me nervous, but they are only about a week old.

I was pretty sure that was the case. But double checking and seeing if others are as crazy as me about being nervous lol

I have three chicks that are about three weeks old now should I still keep the heat lamp on when it gets in the 90F outside or will they be okay until sundown without the lamp? They are outside in a small shed and I keep the top open a little for circulation when it's a little warm and turn off the lamp so I'm not too sure if I should be turning the lamp on and off when the temp outside gets high

Heat lamps are scary, but necessary. Make sure that the bulb is solid in the lamp, that the lamp is rated for the bulb you are using, and that it is at least double or triple tied/attached. Mary

I have mine on 24/7 (well 4 days so far). It is 250 watt in a proper receptacle. I have it tied for extra security as well as the clamp duct taped to a tub handle (my chicks are in our spare bath tub). I'm gone from about 7:30am but my husband doesn't leave until about noon and then we're home about 4:00.

I always give the chicks the option to stay under the light and give them plenty of room to get away from it when they want. At three weeks, they can be heated to 80 degrees and be alright. If they are in the shed, I'd raise the light up so that they don't catch a chill from being in the shade. If you are still keeping them at 90, they may be getting a little cooked if you don't have a way for them to cool themselves off and then warmed up as needed. I always brood outside so that the chicks can go out in the sunlight when they choose to and cower under the light when they need to.

'I keep a light over my chicks for weeks. I dont remember exactly last summer when they didnt need it anymore.... maybe 4 weeks. But dont quote me on that. When they sleep on a roost and not under the light...I remove the light.

I dont often ever use a 250 watt heat lamp bulb. I use the heat lamp bulb holder and put a light bulb in it. Have done that for years.

My brooder for chicks right out of the incubator has 12 inch walls. I use hardware cloth to cover the entire thing, and the heat lamp holder sits on top of the wire mesh.

During warmer weather I could get by with a 40 watt bulb (never the curly bulbs because they do not produce heat) ... but I can no longer use the regular light bulbs because they are made so cheap... they burn out in 2 weeks. Very often the bulb would burn out over night and by morning my chicks were almost dead if I had them in a brooder in the barn. In that brooder I used a high watt bulb and draped sheets over that pen to help hold in the heat of the bulb.

This year I am using a 50 watt plant grow light bulb. Remember my brooder is in the house so the chicks are not exposed to severe temperatures.

I have a sheet draped over the entire pen to help hold in the heat from the bulb and I have the heat lamp held up over head with a rope attached so I can lower or raise it.

Young chicks need the extra warmth from a heat source. If you are worried about the heat lamp bulb, then use a different bulb, but make sure it puts out heat...and make sure the chicks can benefit from the heat.

All you folks who are so worried about heat lamps should check out Blooie's thread on chick-caves with "mama heating pad" as an alternative to heat lamps. It's right here on this forum.

I didn't like the heat lamp on so I spent the money on an EcoGlow. I tried the heat lamp for a couple days, but nerves got the best of me. I switched when they were three days old and have never looked back. I figure the cost of running the 11watf EcoGlow vs the 250watt heat lamp would justify the cost. There is also a thread on mama heating pad that looked like a good option.