Continuously Active?

Heni Penny

Songster
9 Years
Nov 14, 2014
50
9
106
Hello -

we received 12 chicks and 8 keets yesterday afternoon (8/14). They are all eating and drinking, and running around chirping. They seem happy. I have seen them sleep, and maybe this is a dumb question but they don’t seem to ever stop for long periods of time and sleep. Ie -at 11pm some were running about eating/drinking/etc while some were sleeping, and the same for 1am. They have a red heat lamp, and access to a brooder heat source. I turned off the extra “regular” lights at 8pm. Is the lack of defined sleeping for a long stretch okay?

thanks!
 
If you have a secondary heat source, turn off that red light at night time and turn it back on in the morning so they know what time is sleepy time. if they chirp alot at night it will go away with a few days. just make sure they got a heat source. they don't need 24/7 light.
 
How is your heat set up? You mentioned a heat lamp, a "heat source," as well as regular lights? What is the "heat source" and why do you need that and a heat lamp?

They're not sleeping at night because of the light. Chicks raised with natural light and a heat plate, ceramic heat bulb or heating pad have normal day/night cycles and sleep at night.
 
It is not an egg incubator. It’s a brooder for up to 20 chicks. I have heard several people say it is insufficient for the first week or two by itself but okay after. We previously used it exclusively with chicks but we have never had keets.
 
It is not an egg incubator. It’s a brooder for up to 20 chicks. I have heard several people say it is insufficient for the first week or two by itself but okay after. We previously used it exclusively with chicks but we have never had keets.

the only thing i find on the internet is the incubator. id look up what @rosemarythyme suggested. the ceramic lamp dont emmit light and is like $10
 
Okay... It is a brooder by Brinsea. They do not make the model I have any more. It is just like the ones they have now but with older legs - that’s why you can’t find it. It is not an incubator for eggs. You absolutely cannot put eggs under it. It does not hold eggs. Brinsea has a whole host of brooders for chicks in addition to incubators.
 
We found exactly the same. They wouldnt actually sleep they would have naps. But that's because their light was on. As soon as we started turning the light off and put in an extra heat source they started sleeping until their light came back on or the sun woke them up. Now they are outside their lights are on a timer and go off at 9pm. However they know when the sun goes down and takes themselves to bed.
 
If you’re having weather like we are, mid to high 20s-mid 30s (80-90s) daytime temps and high teens (mid 60s) during the night, they most definitely don’t need all of that additional heat - the Brinsea heat plate should be plenty.
I use a mama heating pad for my chicks, including quail which supposedly have higher heat requirements like your keets, but never had any issues. All of my birds (except the ducks lol) have a day/night cycle from day 1 because I don’t use any light in there. If I need to use a bulb in addition to the heating pad (usually when outside temps are really low, like they were in March) then I use a ceramic bulb so again, no extra light. I never have scared peeping babies from lack of light when I move them out to the coop either, because they’re already used to day/night. :)
 

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