Do heat lights make roosters more feisty?

[BlueMoon]

Ever since I turned on the heat lamp, the roosters have been fighting. It gives a red glow to the coop. Any ideas why or what I can do about this? Thanks

 

[CarriBrown]

Could you give a little more information? Are they baby roos? How old? How many are there? What type of housing are they in (coop, brooder, etc) and how big is it?
If they are babies, they could be fighting because they are growing out of their space. If they are adults, they could be fighting because, well, they are adult roos!

 

[BlueMoon]

Most of the fights are with roosters that are less than a year old. Some of the hens have been fighting too. But they fight more with the red heat lamp on.

My chickens are slightly overcrowded, at 93 in 140 sq' ft coop. Many small breeds (silkies, nankin bantams) and many are young (6 months or younger). Plenty of roosting space. They free range in the day and fighting has only been a problem this week, as soon as I turned on the heat lamp. When I turn it off, they calm down quickly, turn it on, and they're nasty. So where the coop is smaller than the number should be (I think around 75 is correct), they rarely squabbled until the heat lamp came on.

Odd, no? Whoops - I guess I should have posted this under behavior, but I'm also nursing one of the roosters.

 

[panner123]

Try going to a plain 60 watt bulb, you may need to put two in your coop. All my coops are 96 sq. ft. and I use only one bulb per coop, even when it snows. Doing this will cut down the chance of fire also. Then build a bigger coop, I like to give my chickens at least 4 sq. ft. per bird. This will lessen the fighting also. You may just have to many roos, figure one roo for each fifteen hens. Keeping this ratio also cuts down on the hens being over mated.

 

[BlueMoon]

thanks - we had planned on about 36 chickens - not 93!! Oh well! I adore them.

Many of the roosters will be leaving, as well as a few of the older hens. That will free up some room, but I'm really not looking forward to culling.

I reckon their heat and being a bit tight will help keep things snug most times. Just very odd that they really seem to get agitated with the red light and otherwise play nicely.

 

[Ellie]

I posted about this not long ago. I put a red light, not a heat lamp but red and the hens act more agressive when it is on.

I am going to change it to a regular one soon.

Ellie

 

[BlueMoon]

Ellie, thanks! I will look for your post. I thought maybe I was imagining things! Thank you - I am sane!

What will you use for heat?