Light- artificial or natural

[tinkerfk]

Having had the first chick under a brooder light just wondered what the thoughts were for next year. Have a brooder plate coming that fits into the cage I have, but is natural light enough or should I invest in an additional source of artificial light.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm a little concerned about your statement "Have a brooder plate coming that fits into the cage I have". What is the size of your brooder?

The ideal brooder is big enough that the unheated end is cool enough to = ambient temperature of the area where the brooder is. The chicks should only have a small footprint of heated space that is big enough for them to all fit under. The brooder should be big enough to give chicks 2 s.f. of open space /bird by the time they are 2 - 3 weeks old.

Unless you are brooding your chicks in a dark basement, the light coming through a near by window should be sufficient. That being said, if it's a gloomy day, and if the chicks were in the house, I'd turn a light on for them.

I brood my chicks outside, in a grow out coop, so they get what ever light the sun provides, and natural day/night cycles. Their heat source is a MHP system, which is a fraction of the cost of a heat plate, and provides adequate temp for the chicks with ambient temps down to 20's. This is something that a heat plate can not boast of.

 

[tinkerfk]

I'm a little concerned about your statement "Have a brooder plate coming that fits into the cage I have". What is the size of your brooder?

The ideal brooder is big enough that the unheated end is cool enough to = ambient temperature of the area where the brooder is. The chicks should only have a small footprint of heated space that is big enough for them to all fit under. The brooder should be big enough to give chicks 2 s.f. of open space /bird by the time they are 2 - 3 weeks old.

Unless you are brooding your chicks in a dark basement, the light coming through a near by window should be sufficient. That being said, if it's a gloomy day, and if the chicks were in the house, I'd turn a light on for them.

I brood my chicks outside, in a grow out coop, so they get what ever light the sun provides, and natural day/night cycles. Their heat source is a MHP system, which is a fraction of the cost of a heat plate, and provides adequate temp for the chicks with ambient temps down to 20's. This is something that a heat plate can not boast of.

The brood plate is 12 x 12 inch and the cage is 30 x 60 inch and 18 inch high. It is really only for if the chicks are abandoned like the little one I have now was. At most we would get 4 chicks I suspect as mist of my girls are too old to sky and the rooster can only mate with the smaller hens as he is tiny, we only have 3 smaller breed that are of laying age

 

[Folly's place]

When mine are in the brooder in the garage, there is some daylight coming in from a window, and I have the garage overhead lights on during daylight hours too.
Mary