Hi, we have an indoor cage which is three foot long by one and half foot wide and a foot and half deep. What watt bulb would you recommend i use? Does it depend on how many chicks will be in there? Also how close the light is? Sorry for all the questions but i have chicks ready to (hopefully) come into the world and i want to get it right first time. Thanks for reading !!
We bought a 150 watt bulb and an adjustable switch lamp from a reptile supply store. Ours is a plastic tote with the center part of the lid cut out and hardware cloth stapled on it. We rest the lamp on top of the hardware cloth and not the plastic. Maybe a 100 watt one would suit your needs. Just a guess.
I will tell you that I have a 250 watt (red) and it is suspended from the ceiling. I have had to adjust the height a few times. So with that I would recommend a much less wattage bulb. 250 is pretty hot. ( a think too that the brooder light reflector plays a huge part in how hot it can get and mine is also large.) what I will suggest is that you get the light and test the heat before you put your chicks in there. That way you don't have to worry about always changing it ( even though you will!) Good luck I know how you feel!
Indoors I use a 100W light on a dimmer. Hang about 8 inches up or so and dim from there. I kick them out at like a week and their 100W goes with them.
what a GREAT idea... a dimmer !!! I was wondering how I was going to decrease the heat each week. I will have to get my hubby on this one! Thanks for the great idea!
You could also raise the lamp a few inches every week to decrease the heat, too. That's a little cheaper.
We use a heat lamp that we bought at the co-op. We raise it up and eventually turn it off during the day and just on at night. By 3 weeks you just need it if it is cold at night. I put the heat lamp on a saw horse leg and take a twin sheet and make a tent out of it to keep the heat in the brooder. I Only use the sheet for the first week or so. Raising chicks in the summer takes less electricity than in the spring and fall
My brooder is about the same size - it's a cardboard saddle box, and is about 3x2. I can tell you from experience - don't go for the 250! Unless you've got it in some really large cold room. I tried the 250 watt red light. At the highest I could hang it, I couldn't get below 100. Next the 250 watt white light. I lasted with that till the chicks were 12 days old - today. I've finally gotten a 100 watt red flood light - it seems to be holding at 85 at about 1 foot from the box top, so I know I'll be able to keep it down to a comfortable temp. Good luck with yours!
We used a reptile lamp, I bought a red heat light at the pet store - big $$, but only the best for the Delightful Dozen. Then when that started to be too hot, we would trade it out for 100, 75, or 60 watt light bulbs. That worked pretty well since we have someone home all the time and we could monitor it. My problem with the heat lamp was trying to get it high enough to not be too hot - the DD were in a furniture box in the kitchen and we did not have a great way of suspending it.
