loohoo
Songster
I've seen a few different takes on this so I just wondered what your thoughts were on this. I really appreciate all the tips and knowledge on here!
We have 6 BO chicks who are all about 3 weeks old, maybe a few days over. At first, we had the heat lamp keeping the brooder at around 90-95 degrees, and I'd read that each week you should move it up to drop the temp 5 degrees. We've been trying to do that, but with our set up, it's getting harder to move it up any more. Its currently keeping the brooder at about 85 degrees or so. The brooder is in our finished basement where it stays about 70-ish degrees, maybe a little chillier.
Our chicks are feathering out really well, one is a little more behind than the others.
I read some people switch from a heat lamp bulb to a regular bulb so it creates less heat....? I've also read that the red light from the heat bulb keeps them from picking at each other...I don't want that to be an issue either.
I'd like them to go outside to the coop/run in the next 2 weeks, by then it will be complete, and the weather will be up in the 70s during the day and high 50's-60s at night. (Plus, they will definitely be getting too big for the brooder.)
I'm just wondering:
A.) When can I turn off the heat lamp? And how do I go about it? Going from 85 to 70-ish is a decent change...too much, too fast? Keep trying to raise the heat lamp? (This is getting harder to do, as I mentioned.) Switch to different bulb?
B.) We turn off all the other lights at nighttime but leave the heat lamp on, obviously. I've read chicks don't do well in complete darkness but when they go to the coop, they'll be in complete darkness...how do I help the transition? With the brooder light on, they always have light. About 3 days ago, we turned off the heat lamp for about 20 mins to see what would happen...of course, they freaked out at first but then huddled together and closed their eyes to sleep. Is the huddling a bad thing? Too cold with no source of heat, in the 70 degree basement? (We turned it back on, and everyone instantly woke up and went about their business.)
Basically, I just don't want to traumatize them and want to make the switch from brooder to coop as smooth as possible. I'd love to lose the brooder light if possible but will keep using if necessary, of course.
We have 6 BO chicks who are all about 3 weeks old, maybe a few days over. At first, we had the heat lamp keeping the brooder at around 90-95 degrees, and I'd read that each week you should move it up to drop the temp 5 degrees. We've been trying to do that, but with our set up, it's getting harder to move it up any more. Its currently keeping the brooder at about 85 degrees or so. The brooder is in our finished basement where it stays about 70-ish degrees, maybe a little chillier.
Our chicks are feathering out really well, one is a little more behind than the others.
I read some people switch from a heat lamp bulb to a regular bulb so it creates less heat....? I've also read that the red light from the heat bulb keeps them from picking at each other...I don't want that to be an issue either.
I'd like them to go outside to the coop/run in the next 2 weeks, by then it will be complete, and the weather will be up in the 70s during the day and high 50's-60s at night. (Plus, they will definitely be getting too big for the brooder.)
I'm just wondering:
A.) When can I turn off the heat lamp? And how do I go about it? Going from 85 to 70-ish is a decent change...too much, too fast? Keep trying to raise the heat lamp? (This is getting harder to do, as I mentioned.) Switch to different bulb?
B.) We turn off all the other lights at nighttime but leave the heat lamp on, obviously. I've read chicks don't do well in complete darkness but when they go to the coop, they'll be in complete darkness...how do I help the transition? With the brooder light on, they always have light. About 3 days ago, we turned off the heat lamp for about 20 mins to see what would happen...of course, they freaked out at first but then huddled together and closed their eyes to sleep. Is the huddling a bad thing? Too cold with no source of heat, in the 70 degree basement? (We turned it back on, and everyone instantly woke up and went about their business.)
Basically, I just don't want to traumatize them and want to make the switch from brooder to coop as smooth as possible. I'd love to lose the brooder light if possible but will keep using if necessary, of course.
