Hey I am getting chicks that are 5 weeks old, and I am wondering what is the best light for them, and what temperature should they be kept at. Also at what age do they no longer need artificial light, to keep them warm.
It is according to if you are going to keep them in the house or out in a coop to start. The 150 watt light was plenty when I got my chicks 3 weeks ago and now they only have a 60 watt bulb in their brooder down in the old tack room in the barn. It is in the high 60's at night and they are well enclosed with a small fan running all night to keep the air circulating but not directly on them. During the day, they are out in the coop since it is in the high 80's and 90's without a light or heat lamp. I plan to keep the 60 watt on them till they are about 10 weeks old since I have about 70 chicks and I don't want them to pile and someone get killed. All they will need is light out in the coop once they are out at night and that should be in another 4 weeks, I hope. Good luck!
At week one chicks need to be kept at 90 - 95 degrees, decreasing by 5 degrees a week, so...at 5 weeks your chicks should be comfortable at 70 - 75 degrees. At that point they should be sufficently feathered out so that supplemental heat is not necessary. If you have only a few chicks, you might want to keep the heat lamp for a little longer. I took the heat lamp away from my (at the time, 21) chicks at 5 weeks.
