Lights: Only for cold climates?

[Chans Farm]

Greetings:

I live in Cambodia. So, words like "snow", "sleet" and "ice" simply do not come into conversations here. However, hammocks, bare feet, and drinking coconut water are common.

We are about to build our first brooder / small coup for twenty (20) chicks, to start raising. On the page that lists the Home Made Brooders, it is not common to see one without a light source of some kind.

So, even though temperatures here are no where near freezing (and getting a bit warmer every day), should I add one to this project? If so, should it be illuminated 24 hours per day? (I am assuming the primary reason for the lamp is to keep the chicks warm.)

Come to think of it, should a light be left on in a chicken house (after the chicks are big enough to be transferred from the brooder) 24 hours per day? Would they eat more if they could see to do so later at night, thus growing faster?

I tell ya, after losing the first flock my wife's family had at the farm (before I started getting involved), I have to say that I am a bit paranoid about losing the little guys before I even get them started.

We plan on launching this about mid March.

 

[Judy]

The idea is to keep the chicks at 90F to 95F for the first week, then drop 5 degrees F per week. If it's that warm around the clock when you get the chicks, they don't need heat. The light is strictly for heat. No, they don't need a light at night, and really shouldn't have one, IMO. They sleep best if in the dark at night, and even young chicks don't eat much during the night even with a light on. If you're unsure about temp, simply have a large enough brooder that they can move toward or away from the heat, and have the heat source at one end. In your climate I would probably have something less than a 250W heat lamp, like a 100W bulb. A thermometer in the brooder when you're setting it up will let you determine that.

Good luck!

 

[Chans Farm]

Well, it's 34° C here today. So, that's pretty close to 95° F. It actually feels hotter than that, to me. I will see if I can find a decent thermometer, though.

Thanks for the input.