Heat Lamps

[Gypsygirl]

Hi, I have 6 new Orphington, they are 1 mos. old and I was wondering how long I still have to keep the heating lamp on them. They are starting to fly, I have them in the house and I have 2 dogs. I don't want one of them to fly out and one of my dogs get a hold of them. This is not my first time with chickens. I have chickens in my back yard that I raised from day one and I also have two old hens left that are 13 yrs. old/ I raised them from day 1. If you could please let me know and refresh my mind I would appreciate it. Thank you

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Put a cover over the brooder to prevent escape. They need supplemental heat until they are sufficiently feathered to maintain their own body heat. ...which can be anywhere from 4-6 weeks (ish) depending on how quickly they feather.

 

[aart]

Definitely cover the brooder to keep your bird in there.

By 4 weeks I would think they should be off the heat...start turning down the heat.
Do you have a plan for integrating with your old girls?



Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.