Do I keep the heat lamp on 24/7?

[hypnochyck]

Do the baby chickies get a night time or do I keep the heat lamp on them 24/7 until I'm ready to move them to the coop?
I'm a newbie, need advice.
Nancy from California

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

The heat lamp is for warmth and you need to keep it on 24/7 until they no longer need it. You can get the red ones if you are worried about the amount of light.

I use regular white heat lamps and they don't seem to mind.

 

[txchickie]

Yep, 24/7. You want those little fuzzies to stay warm!

Personally I am a fan of the red heat lamp lights, but that's because I keep the brooder in the vanity area of my bathroom (sign of a true addict

) and the red light doesn't keep me awake at night. I wouldn't be able to sleep with a regular one, haha.

 

[katrinag]

24/7 here with a red heat lamp. It's less stress on them.

 

[Crazy_For_Chickens]

24/7

 

[thechickenchick]

Quote:
This made me giggle! True addict, yep! I currently have a red heat lamp in a brooder in my bathtub for my 4 day olds and another in a brooder in the living room for my month olds, oh and 1 in the coop for the layers(got down to 18 below last night!). Don't forget, my incubator is in my bathroom too( of coarse there are eggs in it!)!!!!!

Hi my name is Tanya and I have a problem.................

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Standard practice is to reduce heat 5 degrees per week till it reaches 70 degrees. Then they shouldn't need much after that.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Yes, heat lamp on all day and all of the night. Just try turning it off for a nanosecond and they will start pitching a fit.

 

[hypnochyck]

Thank you for the advice! I'm a little nervous about being a first time chickie mama! I'm in Northern CA, so the days are now in the 60's, so they should be fine outside after the first 8 weeks in the house!

 

[lisahaschickens]

Hypnochick -

I seriously recommend getting them outside before 8 weeks. At 8 weeks they'd be huge and tough to keep inside. I know that is the recommendation in a lot of books, but I don't know how anyone could do it! Do you have the ability to put a heat lamp in their outdoor coop? I am just north of Portland, OR (born & raised in NorCal, though!) and I moved mine out to the coop at 2 weeks because they were flying and perching all over the place. It still gets in the 20s some nights here, but if the coop is draft-free and you can put the brooder lamp out there, I would highly recommend it. Mine have been flourishing and I am SO happy I did it that early. And with the weather in 60s during the day, I would think you could let them test out free-ranging in the grass as early as 1-2 weeks, if you can do it for a little while at a time (like 30 min to 1 hour per day) and you are right there with them. I wish I could have done it. It's finally warm and dry here starting yesterady and mine got outside for the first time yesterday. They are out again this morning and it's sunny but below 40 degrees out and they are happy as clams!

If you are interested in the details of how I've been doing it, you can check out my blog at http://lisahaschickens.wordpress.com
I have tons of pictures and I've been writing all about the process. Good luck to you!