Heat lamp???

[Mcatgirl]

Hello brought home my chicks. They seem very happy and know what to do. But I'm curious, at night do I keep the heat lamp on??? I go in there and they are sleeping but wake easy. Do they need dark to sleep?

 

[Pork Pie]

New chicks need heat 24 hours a day. They will be fine with the lamp on.

 

[Mcatgirl]

New chicks need heat 24 hours a day. They will be fine with the lamp on. 

Thanks they seem happy they are quit and they are on the side of the brooder box that's cooler.

 

[Pork Pie]

Thanks they seem happy they are quit and they are on the side of the brooder box that's cooler.

If they are not under the lamp on a night time, then the lamp is too low (i.e. giving out too much heat)

 

[ChickenMammX4]

If the chicks are at the far end of the brooder away from the heat source, it's too hot. Raise the heat lamp.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Ever since lamps have been used to brood chicks, well over 100 years, chicks have been raised with constant light. Those chicks are fine. They do not suffer physical, emotional, psychological, mental, behavioral, or moral damage. They grow up to be chickens. They do not need constant light, they certainly do not get it with a broody hen, but it doesn’t harm them either. They do need a warm spot to sleep and live, so the heat source should be available 24 hours a day.

I don’t know how big your brooder is or anything like that, but it sounds like it is big enough to have a warm spot and a cooler spot, which is good. Let your chicks be your guide as to how you are doing with the heat. If they were crowded under the lamp all the time, it would be too cold. If they are plastered to the far wall, it is too hot. If they are kind of scattered around when awake you are doing great.

Mine tend to sleep pretty near the heat at night but scatter ore during the day. My brooder is outside in the coop so it usually cools off a lot at night, that may be part of the reason they sleep so close to the heat. During the first few days out of the incubator they tend to spend a lot of time under the heat but as they grow they spread out a lot more.

If yours are spending almost all of their time at the far end of the brooder there is a fairly good chance you might need to reduce the heat some. You can do that by using a smaller wattage bulb, raising the light further away from the brooder, or putting a dimmer dial on the circuit. You are the one looking at them so use your own judgment.

I use heat lamps so I’ll put my standard heat lamp warming. If yours still has that clamp on it, throw the clamp away so you are not tempted to depend on it. Instead wire it into place so you, your kids, your pet dogs or cats, or the chickens themselves cannot knock it down. Use wire, not some kind of string that can burn or melt.

To me there are two major risks in using a heat lamp. They can be knocked down or, if the brooder is too small, you can keep the entire brooder too hot. It sounds like you have taken care of the size of the brooder. Please be safe with the other. And congratulations with the chicks. It’s a fun adventure.

 

[Mcatgirl]

Ever since lamps have been used to brood chicks, well over 100 years, chicks have been raised with constant light. Those chicks are fine. They do not suffer physical, emotional, psychological, mental, behavioral, or moral damage. They grow up to be chickens. They do not need constant light, they certainly do not get it with a broody hen, but it doesn’t harm them either. They do need a warm spot to sleep and live, so the heat source should be available 24 hours a day.

I don’t know how big your brooder is or anything like that, but it sounds like it is big enough to have a warm spot and a cooler spot, which is good. Let your chicks be your guide as to how you are doing with the heat. If they were crowded under the lamp all the time, it would be too cold. If they are plastered to the far wall, it is too hot. If they are kind of scattered around when awake you are doing great.

Mine tend to sleep pretty near the heat at night but scatter ore during the day. My brooder is outside in the coop so it usually cools off a lot at night, that may be part of the reason they sleep so close to the heat. During the first few days out of the incubator they tend to spend a lot of time under the heat but as they grow they spread out a lot more.

If yours are spending almost all of their time at the far end of the brooder there is a fairly good chance you might need to reduce the heat some. You can do that by using a smaller wattage bulb, raising the light further away from the brooder, or putting a dimmer dial on the circuit. You are the one looking at them so use your own judgment.

I use heat lamps so I’ll put my standard heat lamp warming. If yours still has that clamp on it, throw the clamp away so you are not tempted to depend on it. Instead wire it into place so you, your kids, your pet dogs or cats, or the chickens themselves cannot knock it down. Use wire, not some kind of string that can burn or melt.

To me there are two major risks in using a heat lamp. They can be knocked down or, if the brooder is too small, you can keep the entire brooder too hot. It sounds like you have taken care of the size of the brooder. Please be safe with the other. And congratulations with the chicks. It’s a fun adventure.

Thanks for all the tips. My brooder is in my house. I'm not ready to put them out its way to cold here, plus my hens outside don't use a heat lamp, I do the deep litter method.

My chicks seem to stay under the heat lamp but sometimes they like to cool down so they go to the other side of the brooder where the food & water is keep.

I was reading something that said a heat lamp on at night won't let them sleep. That's why I was asking. But they seem to be getting enough sleep.

They are doing good so I'm doing something right

I love having chicks