Need to double check with you all-

[tarragon]

My chicks are 6 weeks old, pretty much fully feathered (still a bit of fluff here and there). Hopefully we will get the coop finished today or Thursday, so I'm looking at moving them out of my family room this weekend. Here's my question- I still have the light on 24 hours a day. They are in a really, really big cardboard box, so without the light it is rather dark in their brooder. When I have tried turning the lamp off in the past, one in particular gets very upset with me and sounds the alarm, peeping at the top of her voice. Also, last time I tried they all ended up on one roost all snuggled together. We have had the coldest April in history here in the Northwest, so our furnace is still running, the house is kept at 68. I don't think they really need the heat from the lamp, I think they are just acting a bit spoiled. Should I be turning it off at night now, to get them used to the idea that night time is dark and the "sun" isn't up all day and all night? Or should I turn it off all the time?

 

[10 point]

you can start to ween them off the light at six weeks by turning it off for part of the day or by going down in bulb wattage till they get more used to the cold.

 

[Blue_Myst]

At around five or six weeks I started weaning mine off the heat bulb until I got to the point where I could leave the heat lamp off all night. They will panic at first--the first time I put mine outside they clung all over me and wouldn't get off! But at six to eight weeks, they should be ready to be outside without any heat as long as its not below, say, forty degrees or so.

It's harder on some than others, but a night or two with it off and they'll be fine

 

[Mtn Margie]

I would put them on sun up and sundown hours. The outside light coming in through the windows can act as a dimmer, so just turn the light on during the bright hours and turn it off a couple of hours before sundown. They don't need a light for heat at all so maybe just use the normal room lighting.

 

[SIMPleChick]

I only have 1 brooder and all ages of chicks. I HAD to get my older chicks out, 9 and 10 week olds!!! We FINALLY finished the coop this last weekend! It was maybe a 20 degree difference from inside to outside, the older chicks went in the day we had enough of the coop finished! They had NO problem with the temp change or the light change, we do have a window in the coop so they can get natural light and day time change. We were worried but we we were the only ones that had that problem! The chicks were fine and loving their new space!

 

[Celtic Chick]

All chicks will behave differently, but if you have some really panicky ones like I do, try to find a red bulb to replace your heat lamp bulb. It will not be nearly as bright so they will get used to darker conditions. Every few days you could move it farther & farther back from them so they can get weaned off of it.
I have a red 25 watt bulb out in my coop that runs all night long like a nightlight. It is pretty dim so it doesn't bother them, but if for some reason one of them falls off the roost, they won't be flopping around in the dark to get back up.

 

[chickenmanfla]

Dont need the light any more be prepaird for the nightly peeps for a day or two but they will all be alright