Night Light?

[churchx3]

I have my 6 week old chicks out in the coop with a light 24/7. Am I supposed to keep a light on everynight indefinitely?

 

[chicmom]

Hello church!

No, you do not need to keep a light on the chicks at night, unless it is for warmth. They will be just fine with the natural light nature provides.

Some people will use lights in the winter months for warmth, and it also stimulates egglaying....chickens need alot of daylight hours in order to produce eggs.

But since it's summer, if it's warm enough in your area, you could just turn that light off completely--during the day and the night.

Sharon

 

[Ridgerunner]

They need the heat source until they are feathered out enough to take the nighttime temperatures. Most of us use a light for that. If you use a heat source that does not provide light, I think it is a good idea to give them light the first couple of nights so they can eat and drink when they want. I think that helps them get over the travel stress.

If Mama raises them, she has no way to provide them light at night. They don't need it. If they are used to having light and you turn it off, you will probably hear a lot of distress peeping. Chickens of any age hate change. They will probably protest greatly. They will get over it. It will not hurt them. But they are very likely to protest.

 

[churchx3]

Thanks so much for the advice. I am new to chicks and there always seems to be questions. I love this site as you can gather so much information!

 

[newchicksnducks]

As stated, they do not need ligh 24/7. But when I moved my "big girls" to the basement in a brooder we set up there so the smaller brooder could be used for the new batch of chicks, I didn't think what a sudden loss of light would do. They were kept near two big windows for natural light, but they had been used to the red heat lamp on all the time. As the temp in the basement was warm enough for them, I had shut it off before going to bed myself. When I went to check on them, I could not find them! After a frantic search of their brooder I found them INSIDE the hollow blocks I had put in the brooder to keep the water and feeder off the shavings! How all three of them could crowd into such a small place, I'll never know! I then put a night light on at night, and they resumed perching on their little perches at night time. LOL Once they were outside in the coop (they were the first 3 in a 8x8 coop...a palace) I no longer used the night light.

 

[bobk]

I was searching for my answer and found this thread, the search feature on tis site works great!
My chicks are 6-1/2 weeks old and feathered out. I moved them into their new home about 2 weeks ago and had been using 75 watt nightlight for them as I noticed they where sleeping right under it and it has been cool in the evenings here. (Chicago)
I want to get the off the light so I have been raising it daily. it is now about 5 feet up and tonight I will make it 6 feet. I have noticed that some are now sleeping away from the light night, in a corner.

I like the light because when I turn it on at dusk they all go into the coop. without it I have to chase them in. My question is should I just start turning it off when I have them all in the coop and put up with a little crying for a few nights? Also, in the winter how much light do they need ? Should I get a timer and make sure they get X amount of light per day?
thank you
Bob