heat lamp questions

stephaniepl205

Chirping
5 Years
May 4, 2015
11
5
67
Im getting my first day old babies tomorrow but i am panicking slightly over the heat lamp. I bought a 250 w bulb for it and it gets between 95 to 100 in the box. Im concerned it may heat up during the day and cook my poor babies while im at work. Im also really nervous about fire.....any suggestions, advice, words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!!!!
 
It only needs to be that warm in the space directly below the light. Try a smaller bulb.

A person from another thread I frequent uses a heating pad "tunnel" @Blooie could give you more info.

Good luck!
 
Just make sure there is enough room in the box so they can get away from the heat lamp if they are too warm. If they have the option of a warm side and a cool side they will self regulate, just like a baby chick will run to the mother hen to get warmed up under her, they will periodically go under the lamp and then back out to play when they're warm again.
 
@stephaniepl205 Thanks for the mention, SD Bird Lady. Stephanie, the thread she was referring to is right here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

There are several videos on that thread - my favorite is the one of my chicks sleeping in the dark, without a sound coming from them all night long! I think that one is about 4 pages into the thread or so.

I don't like heat lamps for many reasons. I hate the risk of fire, and those things heat up everything around them - the air, the bedding, the food and water, the walls..just everything! It's way too hard to do a good job of regulating the temps in the brooder, and even the "cool" spot isn't that cool. Besides, the chicks get no rest. The best they can do is doze for a few minutes but there's always other chicks still up and running around, and they don't care if they stomp on a chick and disturb her nap or not.

If you opt to use a heat lamp, SD Bird Lady is right - this time of year a 250W is probably too much. Good luck with your babies!
 
Wow! That is truly genius! I also hate that it's never dark for my chicks and it's true, they don't sleep well with the lamp on. My chicks are almost 4 weeks now, do you think I could still do this for them?
 
Wow! That is truly genius! I also hate that it's never dark for my chicks and it's true, they don't sleep well with the lamp on. My chicks are almost 4 weeks now, do you think I could still do this for them?
I don't think that at this age it will do much for your chicks. It would be hard to get them to go under to learn what it's all about, and by 4 weeks mine don't even go into the cave anymore. Yours are fast approaching the time when they wouldn't fit under a broody and she'd be teaching them to roost. This might be something to keep filed away for your next batch of chicks, though.
 
That's what I was thinking. Thanks so much! Will definitely put this in my plans for next spring.
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I don't think that at this age it will do much for your chicks.  It would be hard to get them to go under to learn what it's all about, and by 4 weeks mine don't even go into the cave anymore.    Yours are fast approaching the time when they wouldn't fit under a broody and she'd be teaching them to roost.  This might be something to keep filed away for your next batch of chicks, though.
 
I didn't start with the heating pad cave myself. And what I had to do was physically put them under the
cave after I had turn off the room's light. I had to do this every night until they feathered out and were too
big to fit under it anyway.
 
I think I've inadvertently hijacked Stephanie's thread. I do apologize. Her original question was about the heat lamp. I just get so enthusiastic about the Mama Heating Pad system that I sometimes forget not everyone is.
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