Question about lighting and pecking.

[dulcimer lady]

I know that having the heat lamp can help with chicks not pecking each other. But my problem is that where my chicks are kept (they are a little over 3 weeks old) the temp. in the room stays at the appropriate temp. for them at their age. If I turn the heat lamp on, it gets too hot for them. I haven't really noticed any pecking. Do you think being without the heat lamp at this age will lead to pecking problems?

 

[Kim_1970]

I was having that issue myself. So I change the light from a 250 to a 100 watt red bulb. You can even get them at lower watts like 65.
I then raised it wayyyy up higher above the brooder so it was just the light that was reaching them and not really any heat.

 

[fresheggs4u]

how many chicks do you have and what is the amount of space they have. I had the same problem. they were too crowded. I put a red light on them and gave them more space and they stopped. I did lose 3 birds though before they stopped.

 

[jrobertson]

i have had the same problem. they do fine till right around 3-4 weeks and then they start tail picking. I keep these chicks in an outdoor brooder house that measures 8ft long x 3ft deep x 2ft tall with a divider in the middle so i can keep to batches at one time. i have one door on each end and i supply each side with a feeder, waterer, and clamp light with a 100w bulb for this time of year. higher if still early. the bottom is 1/2in hardware cloth and the side are wood, the top is tin and the front is chicken wire. at right around 3-5 weeks mine started picking at each others butts until the pickee died. well the first time this happened i moved them to to a larger cage on the ground, where they could pick at natural stuff. this time i dont have the room so i read that it could be from several reasons: too crowded, too bright, not enough protien, not enough food, bordom. so i tried to fish out the problem. so i covered the front of the brooder with cardboard and spray painted the lightbulb black and then put it back in. so now the only other light is coming through the wire floor. also i put a hand-full of fresh grass clippings in with them for them to pick at. i have had no picking problems since.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
It's not that a heat lamp will help with pecking issues, it's that a red heatlamp sometimes helps with pecking, vs. a white bulb. They need light, but not too bright. If you can provide light from a nearby window/light/etc and the temp. is correct without added heat, then they'll be fine.
ETA: Be sure that there are no areas of the brooder that are drafty.

 

[dulcimer lady]

Ok, y'all have given me lots of good info here. Thanks. As of right now, I don't have any pecking problems ~ I'm just hoping to know what to do to avoid it in the future. My heat lamp is a red one, it's just a bit much for them at this point. The room they are in is small and the heat lamp really heats it up. It's not drafty at all. I like the idea of getting a lesser wat bulb. I did not know that too much light overall was bad for them though. The room stays lit with one regular light bulb in an overhead fixture. There is no window so natural light is out. Should I not use the overhead light? Just a smaller red bulb? Or maybe a small lamp?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
It's not that too much light is bad for them per se, it's that with everything very well lit, they are more prone to pecking at the smallest difference in each other. I would go with a lower wattage red light, in addition to the room light. At night, leave only the red bulb on over their brooder and turn the room light off. That way they get used to the natural rhthym of day and night.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

I have never used a red bulb, only the white ones and have never had any problems with pecking in my chicks (my hens are another story). I would say as long as they have enough room and aren't over crowded, you should be fine.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
And if you've never had a problem you don't have anything to worry about. When pecking becomes a problem, that's when a red light is recommended.