Out to the barn they go - heat lamp?

[Stonerowfarm]

We have 13 adults hens in a large room in our barn with a run. We also have 17 five-week old's. Some are feathered beautifully and others not so much. Right now the babies are living in the bathroom tub and have recently discovered they can fly

I am splitting the room in the barn with chicken wire so the girls (and one boy) can get used to each other. The total size is probably about 10 x 15-17 and I'm taking one end about 10 x 5 for the babies. Because it's still so cold here at night (40) I'm putting in a heat lamp. Where is the best place to put this so no one gets hurt by it. I thought of putting it in the adult side shining into the babies but I'm worried about curiousity and burned chickens.

Thanks.

 

[Mahonri]

I'd put it in the 5 week old chick side in a corner.... about 1.5 to 2 feet off of the ground and at least 18 inches away from each side of the corner.... If they need the warmth, they'll park underneath it.

 

[scarter]

I'm going to set mine outside too. The bathroom is getting stinky. Ick. Mine are only two weeks old though so I'm going to have to experiment with the heat lamp. We're that low at night too. I'm sure they will be fine. I'd do what the other poster said. I have an enclosed place for mine so I'm going to clamp the lamp on the wire outside shining in on top of the coop.

 

[ams3651]

I took mine out at about 2 or 3 weeks into the back of the coop. As long as the light shines down in a corner they will hang out there when they need to. Id put it in a back corner so the bigger birds dont get curious and be sure to nail it fast or some other way so there is no way it can fall down.

 

[bethandjoeync]

we will be sending our little peep squeaks out to the coop with in the next two weeks as well (they are 3 weeks old now) because the brooder is just too small for the 16 of them. we have been using a regular white bulb, but I think I will buy a red one for out there, so the hens don't get confused and not sleep lol. I might end up with warm chicks and exhausted hens lol. anyways, thanks for this feedback, it was a question I had as well. I think we will make sure to nail it up and clamp it and everything else just so no worry of it falling.

my question is, what about the straw in the coop floor (or whatever others use)? could it get hot enough to catch on fire? should I just sweet the straw away from the area that I plan to put the chicks? my hens scratch around and move it all over the place, so how do I make sure it won't get close to the lamp?

 

[lovemychix]

I put mine out when they were 6 weeks with a heat lamp and it was November. They will be fine. Much happier when they have more room.

 

[Judy]

The straw won't get that hot as long as the heat lamp does not move. Problem is those clamps can fail. I always have a secondary system, for me wire clothesline, rigged up so if the clamp fails, the light will not fall to the bedding.

 

[bethandjoeync]

^^good idea

 

[mmtillman]

Quote:
Yes...this is a very good idea....coop fires are rare but they do happen ...we used a chain as a back up to prevent any fire risk and still it was hard to sleep that first night knowing we had a fire source so close to cardboard...