How long should I keep warming light on?

[JaJoJu]

My last question for the night!

I have a warming light on my four chicks. When can I turn this light off? How long do they need the warming light on 24/7? Thank you in advance.

 

[Cynth]

I didn't read how old they are??? you have to keep a light on 24/7 to keep a constant temp. you slowly take the heat down over a period of time to let them acclamate. This happens over a period of weeks.

 

[JaJoJu]

Quote:
I am embarrassed to say that I don't know. I am sure the guy at the feed store told me but it may have been buried under all the other info he was giving me.

I will keep the light on tonight and call tomorrow to ask. I will also ask them about the light. They seem happy and warm now so I am sure they will be ok for another night.

 

[Cynth]

I know there is a thread on this but I am pretty new here. they have t be kept warm for several weeks. Like 100 degrees at first then lowering gradually or you wll lose them. they are probably less than a week. do they have feathers yet? If only a few on wings they are still young.

 

[rebeccabaird]

You should keep the light on them until they begin moving away from it. Then you will know that they are warm enough and can move the light away a bit. They can't be completely out of the light until they are all feathered. It takes about 8 weeks from hatching, give or take, for them to fully feather, at least that was how long it took mine.

 

[felidaet]

They need to be 95 degrees 24x7 for the first week. Then reduce the temperature by 5 degrees each week until it is down to about 70 degrees. A red heat lamp is much better than white or clear.

If you post a photo(s) of your chicks some people on here you should be able to get some pretty good estimates of how old they are. You can not guess just based upon when you purchased them. They could have been any where from a couple of days old to several weeks old.

 

[SeaisforChicken]

I go with the "Raise the lamp and listen for complaints" method of temperature control. When I first brought them home, it was too warm and there was a lot of loud chirping and hiding in the shadows of the food bottles. If it goes too high, they all stand on top of each other to get warm. I also watch them for a while to make sure there is no panting or hiding. Good luck! and you found the right place to ask questions!!

 

[write2caroline]

I put my lamp on a wooden 2x2 which I macGuyvered (with packing tape - or duct tape) to the mirror so I could raise and lower it to get the temp I needed

just an idea

[/img]

You can do whatever works for you but this worked for me - also my peepers liked it a little cooler than the posted temps so I could tell by their behavior what was right for them. The bathroom was fairly warm to begin with. Peeping meant too cold and avoiding the light they were too hot. I used a reptile themometer to guage the temp at the same level as the chicks. I velcro-ed it to the brooder wall.

Caroline

 

[chisNchickens]

Is a lamp really necessary or is it just the heat from the lamp? I don't use a lamp but instead a heating pad under the box/tank/whatever. I have a temp gun to make sure the temp is right. So no light other than the bright overhead. Any problem with doing it this way? Seems to work fine thus far...

 

[chickencrazyinHT]

They need to be 95 degrees the first week and then start dropping by five degrees each week until they are ready to go outside in the coop.