When to turn off heat?

[mjmcpeterson]

My chicks are close to 3 Weeks old. I live in AZ and the house temp is 75 (air conditioners already running out here). When should I take the heat away. It nice and warm 80 - 90 degrees most days so far, but our coop is not ready. Currently working on it. Should I just leave the heat until they are ready to move to the coop? Thanks for any input!

 

[DairyChickenGal]

You should leave the brooder lamp on all the time. My house has a temp of 75 also but the warm air doesn't flow around the brooder to much but when it does it makes the brooder colder. The brooder floor will keep heat if you only turn it off for a few minutes but it will become cold.

 

[mjmcpeterson]

What age do you take the heat away?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If you go by the rule of dropping the temp by 5* for each week of age, you can turn it off now (if you started them at 90, which I do). What are your night time temps? You're getting close. I'd finish that coop ASAP and get them outside

 

[DairyChickenGal]

What age do you take the heat away?

5-8 weeks. By 5 weeks they are ready for the outside world. They begin to regulate their body heat.

 

[sierranomad]

If you go by the rule of dropping the temp by 5* for each week of age, you can turn it off now (if you started them at 90, which I do). What are your night time temps? You're getting close. I'd finish that coop ASAP and get them outside

X2. I put mine outside at 3 weeks, and removed the heat a week later, they are thriving.

 

[lyricfx]

Any advice on this for New England? It is so cold this spring - still not even 55 daytime. And I have 6 week old chicks ready to go exploring

 

[SSChicken332]

Lyricfx im haveing the same problem , i started with my chicks in my basement . Now they are in my barn in a box inside a cage . Ive been opening the box durning the day but at night it gets down to frezzing . Im not sure when to take away the light . We got 6inchs of snow today it dosnt seem like winter is ever going to end .

 

[sierranomad]

Any advice on this for New England? It is so cold this spring - still not even 55 daytime. And I have 6 week old chicks ready to go exploring

I am new to chickens, so I'll just relate what I've learned from the more experienced here on BYC. In the thread "Mama Heating Pad" the focus seems to be on providing an adequate sized area of draft-free warmth for the chicks, then let the chicks decide when and how long to explore beyond the "warmth zone".

In that thread, one poster mentioned letting one of his hens hatch some chicks in winter; how the chicks were making brief trips away from the warmth of the hen in sub-freezing temps.

When I put my 3 week old chicks out it was 40's at night. Though I provided heat, they chose to sleep away from it, burying themselves and sleeping all together in the deep litter. For about a week they spent a little time in the morning by the heat lamp, but spent most of their time away from it.

If this doesn't answer your question, you might want to peruse the thread I mentioned above.

Jon

 

[lyricfx]

Thanks for this. I guess it's time to experiment.