Thinking About Turning the Heat Lamp Off

[countrygirl86]

The past few days have been hot and humid. I got home last night and it was about 85 in my house. My chicks are two weeks old. Several of them were panting and holding their wings out. They were all staying away from the heat lamp. I turned the lamp off and put a fan in the window in a separate room to get some air flow through the house. It cooled down and the chicks all seemed happier. I turned the lamp back on once temperatures started dropping for the night.

The next few days are supposed to be in the 80's, cooling off to 60's on Thursday and Friday. I am wondering if I should leave the light off during the day and only turn it on at night or if it is too soon. It is hard for me to regulate temperature during the day since I am at work. We have the light raised up, pointed into one corner, and the brooder box is long so they have room to get away from the lamp. But it is notably hotter in the room where they are kept. I worry they will be overheated while I am at work. Any suggestions?

 

[debid]

At two weeks old, they don't need all that much heat. I turned off the light during the day with my chicks once they were avoiding it as you've described. It was fine! They had the sun and each other and really, it's safer to be a little cool than too hot. If you have only a couple chicks and no sunlight, I'd consider using a low wattage household bulb. 40 or so. But if it's a good sized group, they'll get enough just snuggling.

 

[countrygirl86]

I have 12. Normally they sleep spaced out a bit. Some still sleep under the heat lamp and some sleep at the far end of the brooder but most sleep somewhere in the middle. When I turned the light off yesterday, they all huddled together to sleep where the lamp normally is until I turned it back on.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Debid. Let your chicks tell you what they need instead of going by some rigid set of rules. My brooder is in my coop, not in the house. In the heat of summer, I’ve turned daytime heat off at 2 days and overnight heat off at 5 days. That was during a serious heat wave so a rare occurrence. In the winter I’ve kept heat on until 5 weeks, but some mornings I’d find frost in the far end of the brooder. It’s big enough to heat one area but let the far end really cool off. I’ve done a whole lot in between these extremes. I don’t use a thermometer but let the chick tell me what they need, but just starting out a thermometer isn’t a bad idea until you get some experience. After a while you learn how easy it can be and gain some confidence.

In a regular summer where overnight lows were in the mid 70’s, I’ve seen a broody hen take her chicks to the roosts at two weeks. They would not all fit under her up there. A couple spent the night together on a 2x4 brace against the wall. They only had each other to keep warm. Worked out fine. I’ve seen some really young chicks less than a week old sleep on top of a broody instead of under her, though they probably went under her later that night. I had one broody raise 15 chicks in the summer. By two weeks of age they had grown so much they couldn’t all fit under her. Many just slept next to her.

That 90 degrees the first week with a 5 degree drop each week after is one of the guidelines I worry about. I think there needs to be an additional part that says you need to give them enough room so the rest of the brooder can cool off substantially so they can find their own comfort zone. Another option, if your brooder is really well ventilated, is to put up a barrier so they can hide away from the heat source. A little too hot really is more dangerous than a little too cool.

I’d turn that heat off. They should be fine during the daytime, probably at night too. If they get cold at night, they will wake you up with a plaintive peeping. That is a distress peeping, steady, regular and so sad you know something is wrong. Once you hear it, you will remember it. If you hear that, turn the heat on.

Another thing. If they have never been in the dark, they may get scared and give that peeping when they first see dark. It’s new and they don’t understand it. You can just leave the light off and they should soon settle down. It won’t hurt them. You won’t have to show them Oprah reruns to settle their psyche. They will not suffer long-term mental or emotional trauma. They will get over it.

Or you can leave it off 5 minutes, turn it on until they settle down, then turn it off again. Do this a few times until they get used to the idea. You may be able to go to longer dark intervals. One key to being successful raising chicks is to be flexible.

 

[countrygirl86]

When we first set up the brooder (before the chicks arrived) we had a thermometer to gauge how high to put the heat lamp to start. After the chicks arrived we just paid attention to their behavior and removed the thermometer. Up until yesterday they seemed content. I know it is better to be on the cooler side, I just worry since I am not there to monitor them during the day. I would rather get them acclimated to outside temperatures sooner than later.

 

[thefeatherlady]

My chicks are just 5 weeks old and nearly fully feathered. I turned my heat lamp off today after bringing them in from outside since my house is the same temp as the brooder. Now all they want to do is sleep. They don't seem cold or anything but wondering if I should be concerned that they are sleeping so much.

 

[Noble Rooster]

I was just about to ask this very question. Our peeping box arrives this week and I am also using our coop as the broader. Even with lots of open windows on a day with no breeze it can get toasty in there. These replies were very helpful -- thanks!

 

[taffers]

I have 8 chicks- five are 2.5 weeks old and three are 5 days younger. I turned off the heat lamp probably 4 days ago! So the young ones were maybe only a week old? They are in our office/guestroom in a big plastic bin, and it was getting ridiculously hot in there (and we live in southern CA where it's not even very hot!). We do have the a/c vent closed in there though so there is no cold air whatsoever getting in.

First, I would just turn it off during the day and keep it on at night, but now, I just don't turn it on at all. They seem much happier. They sleep much better too now that it's dark in their room at night. We have French doors in that room so I put their brooder right up against the doors so they get natural light and a bit more warmth.

I think since 8 of them are in that plastic bin, they create a lot of natural heat as well. They don't chirp at night at all so I know they are not too cold.

We've even been taking them in the backyard to free range a bit (which they love), and they seem to like the shade, not the sun so I think they are over the heat!