Removing heat lamp?

[Susan Skylark]

When can I safely remove the heat lamp from baby quail? I can’t move it further away or higher up, they still like the heat but don’t utilize half their floor space because it is too warm for long exposure. They are 10 days old, well feathered, and there are 19 of them in 3 square feeet. The are also in a 68F basement so no temperature or weather considerations. They aren’t overly crowded yet but at the rate they are growing it would be nice for them to have more room. The last batch got kicked out of the brooder at 3.5 weeks (only 5 birds) and did just fine. Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

I would try turning the heat lamp off in the morning and see how they act. 68 degrees might still be a bit cool for them, but if you watch them, they'll let you know. 19 of them might be fine since they'll huddle together when they get cold.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Good idea, thanks!