Heat lamp question

[browland84]

When can I turn the heat lamp off? My chicks are 6 weeks old tomorrow and they have been sleeping in my basement. They have been acting like they are getting hot. I've raised the lamp about as high as I can and it is about 70 degrees next to their box. Are they ready to be without it? We haven't finished building their coop. It may be another week or two before it's done. I live in cleveland Ohio. So weather here is unpredicable. One day it's 80 the next it's snowing and 20. When should it be ok for them to finally go outside?

 

[browland84]

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

When can I turn the heat lamp off? My chicks are 6 weeks old tomorrow and they have been sleeping in my basement. They have been acting like they are getting hot. I've raised the lamp about as high as I can and it is about 70 degrees next to their box. Are they ready to be without it? We haven't finished building their coop. It may be another week or two before it's done. I live in cleveland Ohio. So weather here is unpredicable. One day it's 80 the next it's snowing and 20. When should it be ok for them to finally go outside?

Yes, turn it off. Keep them in the basement for a few more nights without the heat lamp so they can acclimate to cooler temps. Do you only have two? I'm wondering if you should wait a tad longer if only 2--usually a flock will keep each other warm. If its in the 20s at night I really think these 2 might be too cold. Anyone else?

 

[bobshere]

I know mine are going out in 2 more weeks or as soon as they have all their feathers. They will be 4 weeks old. Just provide them with a lamp in their coop. They will warm up when they need to...

 

[Blooie]

When can I turn the heat lamp off? My chicks are 6 weeks old tomorrow and they have been sleeping in my basement. They have been acting like they are getting hot. I've raised the lamp about as high as I can and it is about 70 degrees next to their box. Are they ready to be without it? We haven't finished building their coop. It may be another week or two before it's done. I live in cleveland Ohio. So weather here is unpredicable. One day it's 80 the next it's snowing and 20. When should it be ok for them to finally go outside?

They should be fine if they are well feathered. If they get chilly they'll huddle together. That isn't as risky as them huddling when they are tiny chicks, when one or more of them could be smothered in the process. I took the heat lamp off mine and kept a window in the office cracked open (no draft directly on them) so that when we put them out in their new coop they wouldn't be as likely to chill, and I live in Northern Wyoming. They've been outside for a week and half and are thriving, and they were hatched on Feb. 24th, so they're about 6 weeks old now! There's a school of thought which says that they'll begin feathering out more when they are no longer under artificial heat, and I believe that! I swear I could almost hear the feathers growing!

 

[ronmauldin]

I moved mine (8) out at 4 weeks, once they were feathered. They were starting to fly out of the brooder. I kept them confined to the coop the first week with a heat lamp for the chilly nights. After that they could come and go out into the run at their pleasure sunrise to sunset. They did fine with the biggest problem getting them to go in at night (automatic door).

If you don't want to worry about turning the heat lamp on and off, you can pick up an outlet at TSC or Amazon that will turn on at 35 and off at 45 ($12.99).

 

[browland84]

We have 4 of them all the same age. They seem to be fairly well feathered out. I did a trial run without the heat lamp. 1 hour with it off and it dropped 4 degrees. Is that too cold? That would make it 64. Now they are all huddled up.

 

[Tappy4me]

We have 24 chicks (range of 4 weeks old-5 weeks old). We've finally been able to turn their heat lamp completely off for several days now, they seem to be doing just fine. In another few days, we'll keep their window open to allow their room temp to get a little cooler. They're down to 70ish at night. It is amazing how much heat they put off together though. Your four should do ok turning the lamp off, and just keep an eye on them. Make sure they have a lot of shavings to huddle up in if desired too. Ours really cuddle down in them. haha

edited to add:

If they're getting too cool if you turn it off fully right now, maybe turn it off for an hour or two at a time each day, and gradually increase the time it's off?