My coop is pitch black at night, Is that ok for them?

[MelAnabel]

My chickens are now 8 weeks old and I just took away there heat lamp. I realized tonight that they are in the dark, so I left the light on for them. Is it ok for me to turn it off and leave them in the dark??? I have rabbits in the house (coop) too!

Also, Can anyone help me with the proper treats that I should be giving them. So far they are getting Meal worms and carrot shavings.

 

[eggchel]

They will be fine in the dark.
For snack, they can have most kitchen scraps or chick scratch as a treat. If they do not have access to the ground outside where they can pick up bits of rock, then you need to provide some bird grit if they are eating treats and food other than their starter or grower feed.

chel

 

[allen wranch]

Some chicks really freak out when they go from light to dark suddenly. The first few nights I put my chicks out, I found them hunkered down outside the coop, afraid to go in.

I think what happened was as the sun went down, the coop got darker before it did outside. As a result, it looked too scary inside for them. A nightlight helped. I still had to manually put them in a couple of more times, but they eventually learned.

 

[hypnojessi]

If your coop doesn't have electicity and you would like some cordless light, these battery powered stick up bulbs are awesome. I have one in my coop and it works great!!!

http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/stickupbulb.html?gid=

I think you can get them at Walmart and Target for about $10 each.