I never, ever use a heat lamp or light for mine, even when our springtime temps are still in the 20s, sometimes dropping into the teens. They are raised outside in a wire brooder pen using just a Mama Heating Pad. By 3 weeks old they wean themselves off heat. By 4 weeks old the brooder pen, along with Mama Heating Pad, is totally removed. Every batch, every time.
Chicks aren’t as “delicate” as we are led to believe, which becomes readily apparent when you watch a broody hen with chicks. They spend most of their time wandering around and exploring at just a day or so old, just ducking under her if they get spooked or need a quick warm-up. They’ll even run over snow if there’s some out there! And they sleep all night through, with no eating or moving around from sundown to sunup, snuggled under, on top of, or around the broody.
As my good friend
@azygous said, they are master manipulators. I went through those first few nights of “But it’s dark out here” chickie temper tantrums. They survived just fine, and so did I. That was the first time I ever had chicks, and it was the last time I ever gave them artificial light all night long with a heat lamp. The next 8 batches were raised outdoors, without light.
I agree with
@Doublete, it’s hard to know if your post is describing 4 one week old chicks or an unspecified number of 4 week old chicks. That info would be very helpful.
