my 5 wk old babies live in the coop. they still get the heat lamp at night. on days like today when i don't get to the coop to tuck them in until after dark, they are all hundled in a pile. as soon as i turn on the dim lights they relax & spread out some. do they get used to the dark when they get older? i'm thinking i need to set up a night light for them when they don't need the heat lamp anymore.
When they get older they will like to sleep in the dark, and will get grumpy on you if you try to give them a light from my experience. Also I have noticed a tendency for feather picking when I have a light on and they don't need it as adults. Now for light to stimulate laying, that is fine- simply have them come on in the early morning and make sure you have food and water in there so they can start their day.
Yep, they do panic when small when the lights go out! Just like human kids but they do grow out of it later...
My are 2 weeks old. 2 nights ago I unplugged the heat lamp. They don't need it any more in the house. And yes they sort of hate the dark. My huddle also. Night light!!?? NO!! They are chickens you know. They will get use to it. Once they huddle up they go to sleep. There fine.Getting them use to the difference of night and day. If the mother hatched them and were outside with her, there is no night light. Again there fine. No need for alarm.
When I have ducklings or chicks outside and am getting ready to remove their heat I put the light on a timer and through the night have it go off for 10-15 minutes at a time I start to increase the length of time off and then remove it over a few days. I started this with ducklings because if they panic they can trample each other to death. I figure it is easier for the chicks too.
I appreciate the question and the replies as well. I know they are just chickens... but I can sometimes have an oversized heart. I will treat them the same as I did any other creature that walks the earth. The lights go out at night. I have an EcoGlow and was only going to use a warm pink tinted light during the day to give them a day/night cycle.
