Lighting ?'s

[arodnlys]

We have searched all over the web and on the forum. We cant find any concrete answeres on what to do for lighting.

We were given 2 chicks 2-4 weeks old. What should we be doing currently for lighting? We have a 60watt bulb in a drop light now and seems to be fine.

How long (hours) should we leave it on?

 

[Momagain1]

ok; are you talking light to SEE or light to heat with?

at that age; they need to be at/about: 2 wk olds= 85 degrees, the 4 wk olds=75 degrees; so you could probably do 80 as an average and make sure they have room to move away from it if they are too hot. You need a thermometer in there so you can monitor the heat.

 

[Mahonri]

Hello and welcome to BYC.

Most of us use heat lamps to keep our chicks warm until they are fully feathered.
They don't need the light, they need the heat to stay warm, just like they would if they were under mama hen.

at 3 weeks they still need a lamp at night that gets up to at least 80 degrees.

By the time they are five weeks they should be fine unless it's really cold.

A thermometer is a chicks best friend.

Good luck and so happy you found us here on BYC!

 

[arodnlys]

Thanks for the quick responses. Mainly have the light now for just keeping them warm. Just got them this afternoon. Going to have to by a thermometer tomorrow. I just didnt want to mess up their lighting pattern etc. Does it matter how long I leave the light on for. Should I just use it at night or all day? Again that probably depends on the temp correct?

 

[Momagain1]

we kept it on all the time...until they were ready to go outside or the temp outside was equal to what we kept them at under the light..

 

[earnhardtlvr]

My 29 peeps r in my basement and the basement is pretty much underground so they do not get much natural sunlight unless I am able to open the garage door for them.My chicks r 4, 5 & 6 weeks old. We have a red light that stays on 24/7 for heat and then a work light over their brooder that we turn on in the morning and turn off at night to simulate night and day for when they go out in the coop. Here is a pic:

Hope that helps!

 

[arodnlys]

Thanks everyone for the help.

Im going to have to go buy a heat bulb and light. That way I can have 2 lights ,one for heat and one to simulate daytime. Have the heat one on all the time and the other one off at night.

So for the regular light I should leave it on for about 10-12 hours correct?

Again we just got them yesturday afternoon. Their home for now is a plastic storage container with some hay, water, food and a drop light above them and some wire over it. Nothing fancy. But they seem to be fine.

Do you think they will be fine out on the patio all the time or should we keep them inside until they get bigger? And then move them out to the coop.

 

[mszekely]

I was told to keep them inside until they are fully feathered. Also consider the temps, if they have been in 80 degrees a trip into 60 might be a bit much.