A new a chicken Mom has a question.

[Cciprnancy]

I have ten pullets around six weeks old. I have been keeping a light on them to keep them wam and so they can find their way back to the coop at night.

I recently moved them to a bigger coop and they no longer have a problem going to their coop. We installed a timer to turn the light on in the evening and off in the morning.

At 7:00 p,m I was watching my chicks on a cam and noticed they were all on their roost. Time to tuck them in for the night! One flew off and then they all flew off. I went down, noticed the light was off, turned it on, closed them up. Back at the house I could see they were eating, scratching, drinking.--anything but sleeping. Well, maybe the light is bothering them. I went back down, turned off the light. By now it was dark. They started making terrible noises, as if they were panicking and saying "I'm scared." So I turned their light on again. They settled down and are eating, scratching, and drinking again.

My question is "Do they need a light?". Do they still need heat?. If so for how long? Why? What not? It is pretty warm now in Florida at night, around 70 degree.

Thanks.
Chicken Mom

 

[Ridgerunner]

Last fall, I put mine in the grow-out coop when they were 5 weeks old. It has no heat, is well-ventilated and offers good draft protection. When they were 5-1/2 weeks old, the overnight temperature was in the mid-20's Fahrenheit. Yours do not need additional heat if the overnight lows are 45 degrees warmer.

If they have never been in the dark, they can get upset when the light first goes out. Some people go through a routine where they turn the light off for a few minutes and then turn it back in to get them used to it. I just turn it off when it is time. They are pretty adaptable and get used to it fairly quickly.

It is also possible that the light suddenly going out like that caught them off the roost. They could not see well enough to get up where they wanted to be. They may have been upset, not because it was dark, but because they could not get to the roosts. They did not get upset until you turned the light back on and then turned it off.

Do as you wish,. They are your babies. But I'd turn that heat off and turn the light off.

 

[Cciprnancy]

Thanks. I'll try that tonight.