When to turn off the brooder light at night

[Deep Woods]

The chicks told me they did not need it and they didn’t.
A broody hen does not heat the universe for her chicks, she provides a place for them to warm up when they need it.

Good to see some common sense and letting God teach us thru the chicks that He already gave them the knowledge to survive.

No person "broods" the chicks in the jungles of South America, nor the songbirds that sing in our yards. Too much "intervention" by us humans causes more trouble than it does good in most cases. The more natural the chick can grow is all the more better.

 

[daisykristy]

This thread has been very informative!

 

[AZ RT89A]

For the record I've been shutting off the lights at night since I posted this thread. They lose their minds for 5 minutes or so and then go to bed. They whine a little bit less each night.

 

[Blooie]

Yayyyy!!

 

[daisykristy]

For the record I've been shutting off the lights at night since I posted this thread. They lose their minds for 5 minutes or so and then go to bed. They whine a little bit less each night.

How old are they now?

 

[AZ RT89A]

4 weeks

 

[Chicks4MamaJo]

I'm pretty new to the chicks thing. I just got my babies this past Wednesday. Do you think they could stay at 90 degrees in the brooder until they are at that 4wks of age and can go out into the coop? It's summer out here in the carolinas so the average temp is already in the high 70's/80's.

 

[azygous]

Ninety is for the first week only. You should be gradually reducing the heat source until age three weeks it's no warmer than 80. Cooler is even better if the chicks can handle it. So, by three weeks, your chicks should need no heat during the day at all, and maybe a 75 watt bulb at night to take the chill off. By age four weeks, your chicks should need no heat at night. But you certainly can't go from 90 to no heat over night. They need for you to taper off the heat.

You will know if they need it warmer if they aren't running freely all over the place, but just huddled in a tight pile trying to stay warm.

My chicks are now just a couple days shy of four weeks, and they have no heat during the day, even though it was 50 this morning. And at night, they are just about finished needing heat. By a week from now, my chicks will need no heat at all.

If you keep your chicks constantly at a high temp, they will feather out poorly and be dependent on heat when they should be getting by with less each week.

 

[Blooie]

x2 Yep, yep, and yep, azygous!

 

[Ejls]

My chicks are going on 10 weeks old. They are spoiled little girls. We live in west Texas so it is really warm. They haven't had a heat source for about five weeks, but they were panicking in the dark so I got a red light bulb and put it in the coop. I don't mind having it on for them, but I don't want it to affect their egg production in a couple months when they start laying. They also aren't big fans of their hen scratch. They act as if they haven't eaten in days when I put out the chick starter and they are fed every morning and usually an afternoon fruit and vegetable snack and then starter again just before bedtime. My personal feeling is that they have me wrapped around their little beaks, but any input would be appreciated as we are new to this. I had chickens as a girl and wanted my kids to have the experience and responsibility, but this is new to me. Thank you for any input.