Heat lamp ?'s

[LER23]

For how long should I keep a heat lamp on my little pullets? And how cold is to cold for chickens? I don't currently have power to the coop and don't want to have a heat lamp out there, so need to know how old a pullet needs to be in order to be ok without it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Until they are fully feathered or acclimated to the outside temperatures. I personally never provide heat to adult birds. We can get down to -30 F here. They do okay.

 

[LER23]

Until they are fully feathered or acclimated to the outside temperatures. I personally never provide heat to adult birds. We can get down to -30 F here. They do okay.

So I am a newbie: how do I tell if they are fully feathered? I put my first chickens outside when they were about 6 weeks old, but it was hot, never got above about 60 degrees at night, until they were at leadt 8 weeks old. But they seem to still be adding adult feathers and coloring....

 

[jpalmatier83]

Fully feathered is when the chick fluff has been pushed out by actual feathering. Not full adult feathers.

Rule of thumb is 95f for week one and reduce heat by 5f per week by raising heat source.

If ambient temps are warm, heat lamp is less necessary sooner, if at all.

I also don’t use heat in the coop. It doesn’t get -30f here, but we regularly get 10-20f. Heat lamps kill more birds than cold. They’ll adapt to whatever (reasonable) temp they’re living in over time. If you use a heat source in cold weather and have a power outage many birds can’t adapt to the abrupt change in temp.

In cold weather, ventilation is extremely important. Chickens do fine with cold and dry, but poorly with cold and damp/moist. Between respiration and poop chickens make a lot of moisture.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So I am a newbie: how do I tell if they are fully feathered? I put my first chickens outside when they were about 6 weeks old, but it was hot, never got above about 60 degrees at night, until they were at leadt 8 weeks old. But they seem to still be adding adult feathers and coloring....

Fully feathered is when the chick fluff has been pushed out by actual feathering. Not full adult feathers.

@jpalmatier83 explained it well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So my approach is different. They don't need to be fully feathered. It's more about ambient temperatures and how aggressively you acclimate them to those temperatures.

Assuming the chicks are all healthy and growing and don't have any unusual feathering (like Silkie or frizzled birds), and you give them the option of warming up or fully avoiding it, I find that by around 2-3 weeks old (with daytime temps of mid 50s-mid 60s) my chicks no longer opt to use the heat source unless they're napping/sleeping. By 4 weeks old (with nighttime temps of mid 40s) they no longer have heat at all.

Since OP I know you were also asking about integration earlier, I'll link this here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/ - the sections about early integration (with some temperature notes) start about halfway down the article.

 

[LER23]

So my approach is different. They don't need to be fully feathered. It's more about ambient temperatures and how aggressively you acclimate them to those temperatures.

Assuming the chicks are all healthy and growing and don't have any unusual feathering (like Silkie or frizzled birds), and you give them the option of warming up or fully avoiding it, I find that by around 2-3 weeks old (with daytime temps of mid 50s-mid 60s) my chicks no longer opt to use the heat source unless they're napping/sleeping. By 4 weeks old (with nighttime temps of mid 40s) they no longer have heat at all.

Since OP I know you were also asking about integration earlier, I'll link this here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/ - the sections about early integration (with some temperature notes) start about halfway down the article.

That article was very helpful. Thanks!