I'm worried about when it comes time to put my chicks out in their coop...they've had their heat lamp on at all times, so they don't know what complete darkness is. They will when the time comes to move them out there...we live in the country, there's no electricity out in the coop...no light out there at all. Will they freak out?? Or should I start getting them used to darkness before they go out? I know you're supposed to lower the temp in the brooder by 5 degrees every week, so (thinking here as I write this) that would mean that by the time they are ready to go outside, they won't need a heat lamp, since the end result will be about 70 degrees or so, right? And my house is kept between 70-74 degrees, so those temps should keep them warm enough...which means no heat lamp, and since we don't leave lights on at night, they will experience darkness when we go to bed. Did I just figure this out on my own??
Sort of. If they freak out, they'll get over it in about 10 minutes. I only have 24 hour light for the first week. They really need a dark period. I use ceramic heaters at night.
my chicks just hit 5 weeks and they have been without any light for the last 3 or 4 days. i also do live in tx were it actaully hit 90 degrees yesterday during the day so mine are staying plenty warm,,,i think their brooder dropped to about 75 degrees at its lowest point during the night...they peeep and squawk for about 10 or so minutes when i turn the lights off in the room, but they settle and go to sleep, now there isnt much fiss at all when night time comes! they are bing prepped to go outside this weekend.,
