Cute pictures! Can't wait to have my own little chickies!
I'm a novice (due to get day-old chicks next week), but after reading many books and this forum for over a year and studying brooder set-up, I've read nothing that says a heat lamp is an absolute necessity for chicks over 1 week, during high summer temperatures. Although a heat lamp would be needed if the brooder were kept in an air-conditioned room or a cool basement or garage, or during nights with temps under 85, it seems a bit extreme (and wasteful) to be using a heat lamp on chicks several weeks old, when they're on a deck with ambient temperatures in the high 90's. Add a heat lamp, and throw a blanket over the cage, and you'd have all the makings of an oven!
Everything I've consistently heard and read is that Chicks should be kept at 95 degrees week one, then down 5 degrees each week.
I have a heat lamp and a
Brinsea ready for my chicks' arrival and probably the first few days, but I'm wondering how long they'll be needed once I'm able to get them outside and summer temperatures start to top out into the high 90s? Once the chicks are over a week old, my thinking was I'd probably just need heat maybe on a few nights if temps dip down?
Naturally, I will be keeping a close eye on them any signal of discomfort--distress chirping and piling--but this time of year I'm actually more concerned about them being TOO hot and becoming over-heated. I have electrolyte powder stocked to add to their water, and a mister to cool the run area if the heat gets REALLY extreme when they're older and fully feathered.
