how many watts for a heat lamp?

[lra2000us]

I got 6 new aracauna's today and I think the watts of my bulb is too high because the chicks wont even go under the light. The feed store told me to get a 250 watt bulb and so I did. Can anyone tell me if they were correct?

 

[FarmerMack]

Quote:
40 watts is what is in my brooder for my 3 week old RIR's and Comets i picked up today 40 works plenty of heat if it's no an "al gore" florescent bulb, if the chicks wont go under it it's to hot...try a 60 watt bulb.

 

[ralleia]

I've got three to four of those 250 watters kicking around my place--hand-me-downs never used because they're too HOT!

I use a base (fixture) rated from 250 watts but only a 70 watt lamp, maximum. I'd only use the bigger bulb if I were brooding a hundred chicks at a time in a garage or something.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Depends on how big your brooder is and where it's located. You can use a lower watt if you are in the house and you have a small brooder.

My chicks are in a large wired rabbit hutch out in the shed. I have a 250watt about a foot above the chicklets. Most of the time they hang out away from the light, but at night they move back towards it. They stay much closer when it is colder outside.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
+1 A 250W heat lamp can be used for ambient temps down to 40F. If you are brooding in 70F ambient, indoor temperatures, it is indeed too hot, unless it is raised significantly. Other factors, as mentioned, come into play. A box or tub tends to hold the heat.

For both your chicks and your electric bill, there's no sense in using more than what you need.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

I used a 150 watt about a foot and a half over their heads when they were inside, and then when they moved with the brooder outside, I lowered the light about five inches. Very happy content chicks on my porch, in the pouring rain (porch is covered and very deep, they aren't getting wet) with their 150 watt light.

 

[lra2000us]

The cage is pretty big but it is about 85 in my house because we have a wood stove. I will try a 40 watts bulb and see what happens, thanks everyone for your input

 

[4kids*2dogs]

Get an Ecoglow!!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Ha! At 85F, if it is consistently 85F, they'd only need a flashlight once or twice a day.

I'm only half kidding.

 

[debid]

Quote:
What month was this? I'm in middle TN, getting chicks in the last half of April and probably going to end up putting the brooder box on the "porch" (really, a deck with a roof) for the first couple of weeks so I can check on them a million times. I'm worried about keeping them warm enough without cooking them when the daytime temps are approaching 80 and the night temps are still dipping into the 40s. I've already determined that I'm probably going to have to build a new lid because the way it is now, you can't adjust the height of the light which limits any temperature adjustments to switching bulbs.