Should I turn the lamp off at night?

[Janay]

How can you tell if they are feathered out?? Mine seem to be, they are 6 weeks old now. I have started keeping the lamp on during the nights, but off during the day. It seems to be working...

 

[Blue]

I have always turned my heat lamp off at night as I don't feel safe leaving it on all night unattended. I just throw some blankets/towels over the brooder to keep the chicks warm, and they pile up and go right to sleep, and I barely hear a peep from them all night (sweet bliss! lol.). If you only have one chick, this may be a bit trickier, but I've done it with as few as three and had no problems. My mother also did this with no problems when we raised some chicks when I was a kid. The batch I have now are inside, but I have brooded a batch of chicks on the front porch and barely used the heat lamp at all with that batch, but it was also the middle of summer and in the 80s/90s anyway. Chicks are actually pretty hardy little critters in my experience.

 

[spainterrd]

We just got our chicks today. We have a white/ clear 250 watt bulb. Temp is 95 under the lamp and 75 on the other side of the brooder. Thanks for answering my q's about night lights and heat lamps.

 

[farmer boy]

once they are 6 weeks old they can go out to the coop to live out there by their self with a heat lamp in a corner just in case .... mine are 5 days old and i keep a light on them day and night they are in my room right now until their older .... mine go outside and play their feathering nicely and they sleep fine at night with the lamp on they fall asleep no peeping loudly or anything its a clear lamp 150 watt i think and they do fine

 

[farmer boy]

once they are 6 weeks old they can go out to the coop to live out there by their self with a heat lamp in a corner just in case .... mine are 5 days old and i keep a light on them day and night they are in my room right now until their older .... mine go outside and play their feathering nicely and they sleep fine at night with the lamp on they fall asleep no peeping loudly or anything its a clear lamp 150 watt i think and they do fine