How long to keep heat light on chicks

[Trista321]

My chicks are about 5 weeks old. I have a heat light on them 24/7 about 2 feet above inside pen. The temp where I keep them is around 50 degrees all the time (unfinished basement ) Do they still need the heat light?

 

[lazy gardener]

Are they fully feathered? If they are, they should be ok without the heat lamp, but they should have been weaned slowly from it by decreasing the temperature by about 5 degrees/week. Technically, this would put them at 65 - 70 degrees by now. The important thing is for you to work towards this. You can either decrease the wattage, or raise the lamp. You can decrease the temp a bit every 2 - 3 days until you have them weaned off the lamp all together. You can also turn it off for a couple of hours/day. Mama hens do not keep their chicks tucked under their wings all the time, but offer heat as needed while the chicks are free to explore.