Need a heat lamp in Hawaii?

[kealalegacy]

Aloha! I have four 3 week old chickies and have held off from using a heat lamp on them. The weather here has been extremely hot and humid (in the high 80s low 90s during the day - mid 70s at night) and I do not want to over heat them. Do you think I should continue to keep them without the lamp or would a lamp be best for their development?

Thank you so much for your time!

Keala

 

[hanaleimel]

Aloha I live on Kauai and ya you do it is very important. Eventually at like 6 weeks you can just leave it on at night. Especially going into the rainy season. Keep them out of drafty areas. I started them in a huge storage container on my lanai and used shavings as bedding and put chicken wire over the top and molded it to the container just in case one random cat jumps up on my lanai. You can go to a place like those lantern stores you know dakine where they are cheap or home depot and get dakine that is on a cord. and hang it in the middle of the container or they like to cuddle in the corner. oh no need for heat lamp just a light bulb like 65 or 75 watt they do need it believe it or not.

 

[kealalegacy]

Aloha Hanaleimel! Okay... I just set it up and turned it on... im using a 75watt soft light bulb and you were right... they ran right to it and are now snuggled underneath it! Thats just amazing. Here I am sweating in my house desperate for some cool air and they WANT it to be hot! LOL!

Not worried about cold air or drafts... they are in a playpen in my house. I have straw covering the bottom and so far there is no smell... straw is my new favorite thing! I wonder if I can use it in my kids room to help minimize the mess?

Thanks for your help! Oh! One more question for ya... how old should they be before I put them out into the coop/run?

Mahalo Nui Loa! Keala

 

[midd2005]

i'd say that if you haven't had them under a lamp up until this point, you're probably fine. otherwise they would have died, which, happened to some friends of mine who figured, eh, it's hawaii, they will be fine. sadly, they were not.

anyway, i got my chicks during the 3rd week of july. they were under a heat lamp as soon as i got them home. using a thermometer to judge, i kept one end of their brooder at 90ish degrees the first week. 85 degrees the second week. during the 3rd week, we turned the lamp off during the day as it was in the 80s. at night it came back on.

during the 3rd week they also started spending all day outside, coming in around nightfall. when they turned 4 weeks old, and the night time lows were around 75, out they went permanently. no heat lamp at all. and they don't have a closed in coop. it has a roof and a couple walls but they are very much outside.

makes sense to me to get them outside as soon as possible. more space to run and flap and scratch and build their strength.

as of about 5 and a half weeks they started sleeping on a 3.5' high roost. there is a ladder to help them get up there, though some could probably make it that high without.

it's a little hard to tell from your picture, but i bet that, what with yours just now experiencing the heat lamp, they are pretty well feathered out by now. when they are fully feathered, they can definitely go out. when not, it's all about what the night time lows are.

 

[kealalegacy]

I think I made a HUGE mistake by using the light! I had it on in the corner only so the rest of the playpen would be cooler for them to move to. I left the house for a couple of hours and when I came back my 2 biggest and strongest girls were pecked to bleeding! The other 2 were fine. Well I researched and researched and the only conclusion I could come up with is that the light somehow made them more agressive! I turned off the light... cleaned them up and put vaseline on the wounds (like the website said to do)... added some vinegar to the water in case there is a deficiency in their diet... and hung a treat basket in the pen.

So far so good! The girls are not pecking each other anymore but they do have moments when they are pecking at themselves. 1 has a bald chest but at least shes not bleeding!

I guess I should have just left well enough alone... ugh... Im such a N00B.

 

[midd2005]

those first couple weeks are STRESSFUL. i hardly slept.

i hope they will be ok.

there are definitely people on here who say that white light can make the babes a bit crazy. if you switch out to a red light bulb, it's less stressful for them. plus, they can't distinguish blood so easily and thus don't peck at it so much.

i found red bulbs a bit hard to find, especially in a lower wattage like 90. hardware hawaii finally came through for me though.

at this point, really, just put it on at night if anything.

 

[chicksbestfriend]

Aloha Keala,
I live in Maui, I incubate and raise chicks. I only keep my hatchlings on heat (soft red bulbs) for the first 5-8 days, depending on the weather, then I put them outside already in a big pen that I call the nursery. Midd2005 stated correctly, the white light bulbs are not healthy for the chicks eyes and also causes them to peck on each other. The red lights are more calming and I have never had any pecking and I keep anywhere from 60-75 chicks in each of my brooders at a time. It is true, the longer you keep them on the light, the faster they grow, and thats because the light keeps them up eating and drinking more than they would without the lights. My personal experience with keeping them on the lights longer, yes, they get bigger faster, but they do not get bigger than the other hens in general, it just gives them a growth spurt in the beginning. Even in the cold and wet months, I have never had to provide extra heat or light for any of the birdd at any stage. Your chicks look like they are almost completely feathered, I wouldnt use any lights.

 

[kealalegacy]

Quote:
Well... they used to be! LOL!

Thank you so much for the great feedback! I have since turned off the light but the damage has been done. Now that those 2 girls have bald spots, they are still being pecked at and I found the culprit! Wouldnt you know its the smallest and quietest of them all?

Well... she has been segregated from the main flock but only by a wall of wire so she can still mingle with the group without pecking them. Im hoping that it was a fluke because of the harsh light and once their feathers come back, she will not want to peck at them at all.

Im gonna double their outside pen time starting tomorrow... supervised of course... and I hope that will help to alleviate any boredom.

Again thank you everyone for your feedback! I really appreciate it and i guess you live and learn right? Have a great night all!

 

[chicksbestfriend]

Dels carries Scarlex, try spraying that where the chicks have been pecked. It will heal the wounds, prevent infection and fungus, and will definitely keep the peckers away. Smart idea to isloate the pecker. I wouldnt put the pecker back with the other two girls until they are completely healed. As for the pecking, try give her a banana leaf to peck out, or 1/4 of a head of cabbage, either two will satisfy her pecking needs. Have a good night too.