Age to take away the heat lamp

[Judykaymayes]

I would like to ask at what age can the heat lamp be turned off on 4 week old sikky chicks we live in mid central IN.its up in the nineties evrry day this week and 80 s next week and the chicks are in an insulated garage.when can we take off the heat lamp.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What are your night time temps? When I first got into chicks, I was advised to keep one area of the brooder at 90°F for the first week and to reduce the temp by 5° each week until they were at the ambient temperature. (Another area should be cooler so they can choose their area of comfort.) By five weeks they should be fully fledged and no longer need supplemental heat, especially if you have several chicks that can huddle together to keep each other warm. Now that we've raised several crops of chickens, we've learned to let the chicks tell us what they need. Loud peeping is a sign of distress. If they are cold they will huddle together (this is normal when they are sleeping anyway, but they will make calm, happy noises, like purring). If they are too hot they will hold their wings away from their bodies and pant, trying to get away from the heat source. Happy chicks are active chicks.

 

[Judykaymayes]

What are your night time temps? When I first got into chicks, I was advised to keep one area of the brooder at 90°F for the first week and to reduce the temp by 5° each week until they were at the ambient temperature. (Another area should be cooler so they can choose their area of comfort.) By five weeks they should be fully fledged and no longer need supplemental heat, especially if you have several chicks that can huddle together to keep each other warm. Now that we've raised several crops of chickens, we've learned to let the chicks tell us what they need. Loud peeping is a sign of distress. If they are cold they will huddle together (this is normal when they are sleeping anyway, but they will make calm, happy noises, like purring). If they are too hot they will hold their wings away from their bodies and pant, trying to get away from the heat source. Happy chicks are active chicks.

70 outdoors and warmer in our garage probably 80 s in the garage.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

70 outdoors and warmer in our garage probably 80 s in the garage.

If 70 at night they probably don't need it. Can you raise it or move it farther away from them every night for a few days so they get used to not having it? Is it white or red?

 

[ChickyMudder]

I keep a thermometer in the brooder for my sanity. I use a combo of a heat plate and a ceramic lamp (to support sleep wake cycles) 90 degrees the first week and reduce it by ten degrees each week.
When they have feathers I remove it … unless it gets below 50 at night. Then I bring it back only at night

 

[Yardmom]

I have had chicks with out heat at temperatures much, much cooler than that at 2 weeks. I would be more concerned about them being to hot than making sure they are warm enough. Personally I would just remove the heat without worrying about a taper at the age and temps you are talking about.