Brooder Lights

[J99]

I have my chicks outside in a see no touch brooder type cage . I’ve always used a 120 watt white light to heat my chicks , ducklings etc. like a few weeks ago my husband put in a red light and it’s been fine but the last few days and this coming week at least it’s getting really cold at night and my thermometer isn’t reading well . I’ve lowered the light almost all the way down and they get under it and sleep at night but I’m afraid the red light isn’t hot enough
So I want to raise the lamp up some and use the white one , I’ll go back to the red when it warms up

are white lights usually warmer?

 

[aart]

Color doesn't matter...wattage does.
Why would your thermometer not be reading well?
Have you tried a different thermometer?
How old are the chicks?

 

[1muttsfan]

As aart says, their age matters, as well as the bulb wattage, not so much the color.

 

[J99]

Ok great , I think that’s what it was my white light was higher wattage so we switched to that because it’s gotten cold at nights and my babies are very tiny but they are doing great so my lights are doing great
My thermometer works ok but I can’t fasten it up well and they knock it over and poop on it lol but I know for a fact it’s been to cold in there at times .
they are doing great though and now I have the hotter light in there

 

[aart]

My thermometer works ok but I can’t fasten it up well

The temperature should be taken on the floor of the brooder.
Yes, hard to do with chicks all over.....a washable thermometer can help there.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm (~85°-90F/30-32C)on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.