Noob question...

[Mikey D]

I am a suburban raised guy entering into the chicken adventure. First peepers to arrive in a week and a half.
I've got most of what I need but have a question about the light used for heat.

I understand the 95 degree - diminish by 5 deg per week until ambient temp is reached thing. (At this rate I'll have to increase it by 5 degrees for 4 weeks as I live in AZ!)

But...

Will leaving a light on 24/7 mess with their daily cycle?

I know that many animals need a 24 hr light/dark cycle - will chicks be OK living in Alaska in the summer time conditions?

Thanks folks!

Mikey

 

[tiffanyhurd]

Hi Mike,

I use a red light that shines on one side of their area, that way they can get away from it if they are a little to warm. I got mine at Walmart. Hope that helps, you are going to love having chicks!!!

 

[Fred's Hens]

If the air is already 90-95 degrees, you don't need to add any heat. They'd only need heat if the temps fall below 90.

Here's the real world thing about heat lamps. Temperature gauges and all are fine, but just watch the chicks themselves. If they are huddling up in a closely knit pile, they are cool and need a tough more heat. If they are panting and holding out their wings, they are much too hot, which is worse than being cool. In any case, have a large enough brooder, the bigger the better, so they they can move away from any lamp you might add for extra heating. Raising the fixture helps lower the heat output and lowering the wattage does the same. By week 5, they're all feathered out and you wean them off of artificial heating in a few days.

Enjoy your adventure.

 

[allieloveschickens]

when my girls were chicks their red heat lamp was on 24hrs and they did just fine, slept when they were tired, ran around when they weren't. I think yours will be just fine. There are a lot of other AK chicken owners on the forum and I think their chickens do fine in the summer- but hopefully one of them will chime in- maybe they block off light sources at night during the summer so that the chickens have a period of dark?

 

[CluckCluck18]

They like a light when they are little. They sleep erratically and then they are up running around figuring things out. It's hot where I live and they are in the garage without a heat lamp but I leave a light on all the time, probably till 1 month old.

 

[SteveBaz]

they make a red heat light eisier on the eyes I would think than white.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You might notice that a white light encourages them to be active, while a red color keeps them a little calmer. Many people have noticed that, as have I.
As far as light 24/7, sure they'll sleep whenever they get sleepy. A brooding mother hen, sleeps at night in the dark, and the chicks do as well, thus chicks don't need 24/7 light, but they do need to have the right temps 24/7.