Basement Lighting Question

[RockyComfort]

Do chicks need natural light in their brooder room? I'm planning on putting my brooder in the basement (constant 60 degrees), with a red light for heat. Is there a problem with chicks not having natural light during the day? There would be no other lights on in the basement (no windows) except when I was down there to do laundry or whatever. Kinda seems like an unnatural setting. I could potentially keep them upstairs but would prefer the basement. Maybe this would be fine for a while, then I would move them upstairs to adjust, before moving them outside to coop...

 

[GarthRyan]

You'll probably want to have a normal lamp or something near them so that they can see to eat and drink, I'm not sure that the heat lamp would make enough light to keep them awake much. As for natural light, my chicks were raised in the garage. Some mornings i would get up and open the door and leave it open all day, or sometimes i would open it for a few hours in the evening. If it was raining then the door stayed closed. They almost always had some light --two 8'florescent tubes on the other side of the garage. I think they'll be fine in your basement as long as there's enough light for them to see to move and interact with each other as well as eat and drink.

 

[RockyComfort]

Ok. Thanks for the reply.

 

[GarthRyan]

No problem.