Hi there! New city-chick mom here in Bay Area, CA. (One Barr Rock and 2 black sex links) We got our babes one month ago and think they are now bet 6-7 weeks old. They just moved outside into their permanent home. It got into the 40's the first night and I had a light in with them for warmth, on a timer. Tonight the lows will be in the mid-50's. Question 1): Do they need the light anymore for heat? They have lots of grown-up feathers and huddle together on the top rung in the coop. Question 2): Gail Damerow talks about lighting pullets that have been hatched bet Aug- Mar to delay their laying maturity. Can't we just have them on the normal daylight - these days letting them out of the coop around 9am (when its warmer) and lockdown at 7p (dusk.) Is this too much light for them? The coop is dark - no windows yet. Thanks for your help. BTW this forum is a marvelous resource!
I know that what the Damerow book says, but that seems too involved for most people. Sure, you can keep them in natural daylight, IMO. At their age, they really don't need the heat anymore.
Phew! When I saw the subject line, "lighting pullets", all I could think of was, "I would use a match, but I don't think they have papers big enough to roll them" But that's just my twisted sense of humor...
I was wondering why anyone would "light a pullet", too!!! I figured the feathers would stink something awful!! Seriously though, I think they will tell you. If they don't settle down & go to sleep, they might be cold or scared of the dark. If they are cold, they will huddle together & cheep very loud. If they are scared, they have a different sound and they will quit when you turn on a light. You may try a low watt light bulb & see how that works if they are just scared. Once you listen to them, they will tell you a lot about their enviroment. Jean