heat lamp at night

[justvalerie]

I've put a small red heat bulb in my coop and have it on at night, I'm wondering if this is causing my chickens to be more unsettled. Can they see with the red light and will they have a harder time sleeping with it on? It's not really that cold yet but i have a small coop and with the time change i don't want them to be in the dark for 12 hours. I could also put a regular light in the coop on a timer, but my main concern is if the red light is keeping them up at night!
thanks

 

[Aapomp831]

No heat in the coop. Are they fully feathered? Just focus on ventilation, that’s key to preventing frostbite. But if your chickens are fully feathered, remove the heat lamp. They have a portable down comforter wrapped around them at all times - they evolved to withstand the cold.

 

[DobieLover]

Your birds are about 20 or so weeks old now so they most assuredly do not need a heat lamp.
The lack of ventilation in your coop has already been discussed in your intro thread.

You need to add more ventilation to your coop.
I would cut out the sheathing as indicated on both gable ends and between the rafters on the load bearing walls (indicated by the red arrow).
Remove all the chicken wire and staple on 1/2" hardware cloth then reinforce by either screwing down furring strips over the edges, using screws with large fender washers or hammer in 3/4" poultry staples.
This is how I installed the HC between the rafters for ventilation in my coop.

This is the interior of my coop.

Note where the light enters at the soffits and the gable ends. That is all open year round as are the pop doors and two windows away from the roosting area are left cracked open. There is also a ridge vent.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've put a small red heat bulb in my coop and have it on at night, I'm wondering if this is causing my chickens to be more unsettled. Can they see with the red light and will they have a harder time sleeping with it on?

Animals need some hours of darkness to get restful sleep. By having a light on them you're keeping them up (which is why chicks in a brooder with a heat lamp eat and drink 24/7, and then randomly collapse to sleep).

A heat lamp is a fire hazard. How cold does it get that you think you need it?

 

[GC-Raptor]

I've put a small red heat bulb in my coop and have it on at night, I'm wondering if this is causing my chickens to be more unsettled.

Yes, I think so.

With my first Flock of 5 Golden Comets I had a 250 Lumens bulb that I turn on at 5 am daily and shut off an hour before sunset.
I left a 4 watt nightlight on all night.
After they started started to lay, I witnessed bullying behavior when I lockup the coop after sunset.
The second time I saw bullying on the roosts I shut off the nightlight and continue to 4+ years later with my Barred Rocks and ISA Browns.

after all are on the roosts

GC