Brooding lamp off at night?

[RuanMac]

So my chicks are going on 4 weeks old this week, and they are starting to be more active at night than they are during the day.
We have had the brooding light on 24/7 and I feel that is the issue. They aren't quite fully feathered, but are not far from it. (And going through feed like there's no tomorrow!) Is it safe for me to scale back the light, and have it on a timer to go off at night?

They are indoors, so the temperature in their brooder wouldn't get below 72 without the light on.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Matter of personal preference - but I will say that *I* had withdrawn the heat lamp at about that point and allowed the chicks to be at ambient room temperature day and night in preparation for the move outside. Best thing to do is give it a try and monitor your chicks for sign of chill/distress.....they'll tell you if they are okay or not.

 

[Tuhmu]

When my chicks reach 4 weeks I will be doing the same. Like Ol Grey Mare said, its important to listen to any sounds of distress.

 

[RuanMac]

Not sure what sounds of distress sound like, but I'm guessing I will know it by it not sounding normal?

 

[Tuhmu]

The load ear piercing chirping, rather than just the social peeping they would normally be making.

 

[JekkaLynn]

Could they be more active at night due to the lower temperature? My two week olds are more active wheneven it cools down a bit.

 

[azygous]

Your chicks can handle 72 without the heat lamp just fine. As another poster just mentioned, just listen for any loud chirping, which would indicate they are uncomfortable. You don't tell us how many chicks you have, but they should be able to snuggle close for warmth if they need to.

By four weeks, you should be turning off the light, or blocking it, so they can adjust to the natural light cycle, which plays a crucial role in future egg production. It will also ease their adjustment to their new life in the coop.

When I have chicks, I block out the light from the very start with a red cloth hung between the light and the chicks, careful always that it doesn't come into contact with the hot lamp. This ensures quiet chicks at night, and by the time they move to their coop, they are already used to it being dark at night, so they know that's when they should sleep.

 

[RuanMac]

Sounds good.
I have 5 chicks, and the lamp is on a timer as of this morning when I left for work. It will come on around 5:30am, and go off around 9PM.
We'll see how they do, and I will update the post. Thanks for the replies!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

4 weeks old chicks will be fine without a nightlight inside the house. By 3 weeks mine are outside without a light, but the lowest temps I have to deal with are in the 50's at night.
I'm always glad when I can turn the light off so those jokers will stop eating 24 hours a day.