24hrs of light or not to 24hrs of light?

[FireCountry]

Hi! I'm new to chickens and have been reading about them non-stop for months trying to learn everything I can. One thing I've learned is that for every article/post that says one thing, there's another that says the opposite
Many people say that baby chicks need light on 24/7 or they won't be able to find their food/water and they will be hungry or dehydrate.
Many others say it's harmful to have light on day and night. It does sound awfully unnatural and potentially stressful.

Perhaps dimmer light at night or night light?

 

[DobieLover]

If the chicks have just arrived in the mail, it's advisable to leave the lights on for 2 or 3 days to keep them eating around the clock to recover from the stress of shipping and then switch them to normal day/night cycle. This is why I prefer not to use red lights but just ceramic heat bulbs or a brooder plate.
Chicks hatched at home can immediately be left with a natural circadian rhythm. That's what the broody hens do after all.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I never have 24/7 light (I use a DIY mama heating pad), but I'm not sure it matters too much as long as they have all the other essentials. I've never lost a chick (knock on wood) other than having some die during shipping. And I've put several under broody hens upon arrival, so they didn't get 24/7 light then, either.

 

[azygous]

First of all, pay attention only to experienced people. Anyone can read something and feel like an expert and portray it as such. Sometimes someone will recommend something they heard or read that they haven't bothered to fact check, and it can sometimes lead to disaster and heart ache.

You are already on top of this issue by reasoning that a light on 24 hours a day would seem a lot like torture. Yes. You are right. It is.

If you know the basics about how a broody hen cares for her chicks, that should tell you that baby chicks sleep in the dark under the hen all night without eating. The sun rises, it gets light naturally, and the hen and her chicks awake and eat. They are all active during the day, and when the sun sets, the chicks crawl back under the hen and everyone sleeps.

Hens and chicks have been living naturally in this manner for thousands of years. It would seem logical that chickens wouldn't have made it this far as a species if chicks starved to death by not having a light on at night so they can eat.

You don't need a light in order to keep baby chicks warm. Years ago many of us here discovered the heating pad method of brooding. It requires no light at all, only natural light and natural dark. This method resembles a broody hen in that the chicks crawl under it to get warm, and yest, they sleep soundly all night and they do not starve. Here is some reading for you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

 

[Aunt Angus]

First of all, pay attention only to experienced people. Anyone can read something and feel like an expert and portray it as such. Sometimes someone will recommend something they heard or read that they haven't bothered to fact check, and it can sometimes lead to disaster and heart ache.

You are already on top of this issue by reasoning that a light on 24 hours a day would seem a lot like torture. Yes. You are right. It is.

If you know the basics about how a broody hen cares for her chicks, that should tell you that baby chicks sleep in the dark under the hen all night without eating. The sun rises, it gets light naturally, and the hen and her chicks awake and eat. They are all active during the day, and when the sun sets, the chicks crawl back under the hen and everyone sleeps.

Hens and chicks have been living naturally in this manner for thousands of years. It would seem logical that chickens wouldn't have made it this far as a species if chicks starved to death by not having a light on at night so they can eat.

You don't need a light in order to keep baby chicks warm. Years ago many of us here discovered the heating pad method of brooding. It requires no light at all, only natural light and natural dark. This method resembles a broody hen in that the chicks crawl under it to get warm, and yest, they sleep soundly all night and they do not starve. Here is some reading for you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

BYC is where I learned about the heating pad method. LOVE IT. No risk of fire, either.

 

[FireCountry]

Thank you guys! I love this advice and thoes were really great links. A lot of things I had read seemed really overly controlled and unnatural. I've always preferred to play by nature's rules. Us humans have a terrible tendency to think we can outsmart mother nature.
Im aiming for a good balance of precautious and natural.

 

[3KillerBs]

No risk of fire, either.

I'm afraid that I can't agree with that.

Perhaps *less* risk of fire than from an improperly secured, improperly used heat lamp, but even a heating pad without a shutoff was not designed for 4-6 weeks of continuous use and any time you're using a piece of electric equipment in a way it was not designed for you have a fire risk.

Heating pads do start house fires periodically.

A lot of people here are using the heating pad cave successfully, but it shouldn't be taken as a no-risk situation.

 

[saysfaa]

... Many people say that baby chicks need light on 24/7 or they won't be able to find their food/water and they will be hungry or dehydrate.
Many others say it's harmful to have light on day and night.

They don't need the light on 27/7. Many people use one of the several methods that have dark nights with no dehydration or indications they are hungry (beyond normal morning appetite.)

It is also not terribly harmful to have light on day and night. Many people do that without significant evidence of harm.

I like dark nights from the first night. Everything is new to them at that point, I think they took the darkness in stride and easily. The more important reason is I think they get the best rest which is as important as the best food, water, and every other aspect of environment. I can't give them the best of every aspect of environment. I can't give them a broody hen murmuring to them before they hatch, and can only approximate things like her feathers to snuggle in to warm up or showing them good things to eat. On the other hand, they may not do too noticeably worse if their space is a little too tight or their waterer isn't cleaned as often but it is still worth giving them the best I can in as many aspects as I can.

If you are really worried about how long they go without eating or drinking because it is dark .... you could make their "night" shorter.

I figure chickens know how to be chickens much better than I know how they should be chickens. The model is what good broody hans do. Maybe there is a benefit to overnight fasting. There is some evidence that there is for people older than babies. I don't take that to mean chicken babies are like human babies in this or else chicken hens would have a way to get food to their babies... maybe like other species of birds regurgitate food for their chicks.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm afraid that I can't agree with that.

Perhaps *less* risk of fire than from an improperly secured, improperly used heat lamp, but even a heating pad without a shutoff was not designed for 4-6 weeks of continuous use and any time you're using a piece of electric equipment in a way it was not designed for you have a fire risk.

Heating pads do start house fires periodically.

A lot of people here are using the heating pad cave successfully, but it shouldn't be taken as a no-risk situation.

I had thought about editing my comment right after I posted, but my internet is sooooo bad that editing takes several minutes, so I decided ppl would likely get my intention. Sorry.

 

[Blooie]

I'm afraid that I can't agree with that.

Perhaps *less* risk of fire than from an improperly secured, improperly used heat lamp, but even a heating pad without a shutoff was not designed for 4-6 weeks of continuous use and any time you're using a piece of electric equipment in a way it was not designed for you have a fire risk.

Heating pads do start house fires periodically.

A lot of people here are using the heating pad cave successfully, but it shouldn't be taken as a no-risk situation.

Absolutely! Anything electrical can certainly cause a fire, from a phone charger to a coffee pot. Shoot, my hubby is a professional electrician and he’s seen way too many homes where the wires inside walls were scorched and had the insulation burned away, with nothing even being plugged in! But I use this analogy - grab a running heating pad. Now grab a running heat lamp. Yeah, it’s like that. None of us set our heating pads on “high”, except perhaps for the first few hours.

I don’t think, although I could be wrong, many Mama Heating Pad users have their heat on for 4-6 weeks. (Perhaps a few do, but I’ve never heard about it.) Usually by 3 weeks the chicks are barely needing any heat….they’ve weaned themselves off. If the pad is on at all, it’s on the lowest setting, and the chicks are using it more out of habit than a need for heat. By 4 weeks the pad is off. Here at our place that’s when the pad and the entire brooder pen is removed completely. When my chicks are little, on warm days I go out and just turn the pad off for awhile. They don’t use it that much during the day anyway…too busy out exploring! So mine isn’t on continuously.

You raise very valid points. I would certainly not disagree with a single one, except perhaps the length of time the pad is on. From the start, I have always stressed electrical safety. But I’m not naive enough to believe any method of artificially raising chicks is flawless. I just try to stay as absolutely close to a broody hen as possible.