Chick indoors?

[skid-mcmarks]

First timer here. We just got our (6) chicks yesterday. Because their coop is not yet finished thanks to blizzard and 35 inches of snow, my chick's are in a cardboard box....roughly 4 feet long by 2 feet wide by 2 feet high. I have a red bulb over one side of the box allowing them a place to cool on the other side of the box.

So, here's my question. Do we need the heat lamp if they are indoors. My wife is terrified of leaving it on as we sleep, or go to work, as we did today. The room they are in doesn't itself have heat (it's a mudroom) but adjoins a main living room.

She apparently did some reading that said if they are indoors they don't need the heat lamp. The chickens are my son's who saved 3 years to buy them AND their coop. He said he read they STILL need the heat, as they may be a week old today.

Help me here. My wife is scared, outside isn't an option, and the boy (12 years old) is worried mom will turn off the light, and kill his chick's.

It's high drama here folks! (I'm attaching a picture of our set up)

 

[lazy gardener]

And, thank you for giving your chicks enough room to be able to spread out. Kudos to you. They DO absolutely need heat at this age, even if they are in your house. The good thing is that they DO not need a heat lamp. What they DO need is a small area in their brooder that can provide them with enough heat to warm up. If you are going by the old method of heating chicks with a heat lamp, that's about 90* the first week, with incremental decreases in temp till by the time they are 3 weeks old, they should be ok in your house at room temp. By the time they are 4 - 5 weeks old, they should be fully feathered and able to live in their coop without heat.

NOW, the good news: I agree with you. Heat lamps are scary. In the house, you should not need the high watt lamps, and should be able to get by with a 60W bulb for that many chicks. But, even better for the chicks and far safer than any heat lamp style is a heating pad brooder. This must be set up so the chicks can get UNDER it, and it must be the kind of heating pad that will not automatically shut it'self off after 2 hours of continuous use. Some have a bypass switch, so they can be set to stay on continuously.

Check out the article written by Blooie in my signature for how to set one up. There is also a mother heating pad cave thread as well.

Congrats to your son for his motivation to earn the money for this exciting hobby.

 

[dawink]

I use a ecoglow20 indoors just for peace of mind and it works great. It was pricey but I can go to bed without a worry