turning heat lamp off at night?

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

Quote:
Dread is right. This is how a momma hen raises her chicks. The chicks speed all around learning how to be chickens, then when they're cold they huddle up to mom for a snuggle and a nap (or under the light in the brooder). Then they wake up for a snack and a drink and more exploring, away from mom (or the brooder light). They really use mom itermittenly for heat, and so in theory should only need a light intermittenly (at least after the first week of life or so, when they are newborn hatchlings they are quite fragile). Once I actually had a chicken go broody and saw her raise her chicks it made me completely rethink how I previously handled brooding chicks in the house. JMO

 

[Cara]

Quote:
Get pegs for your noses now! Ducklings absolutely stink, they smell an awful lot like pigs.

I've not yet experienced baby chicks (or ducklings for that matter). All of my chickens are older and their coop can get smelly in no time.

Do ducklings smell worse than chicks? If so, why do you think that is??

They do smell worse than chicks, quite a bit worse. Their poop is a lot runnier, although I don't know why it should smell different since they eat the same.

 

[MuranoFarms]

Quote:
I've not yet experienced baby chicks (or ducklings for that matter). All of my chickens are older and their coop can get smelly in no time.

Do ducklings smell worse than chicks? If so, why do you think that is??

Here ya go: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=266482
20 pages about why duck poop is so much worse then chick poop

I still love my duckies though!

 

[newchik715]

wow...i so totally appreciate all the great responses! i think i will try to turn the light off when i am home so i can watch them and then leave it on when i leave so i know they are okay. so far they have been very noisy birds but not distressed. i learned real quick what a distressed chick sounds like. just this morning one flew out of the brooder and sat outside of it crying. she woke me up and i found her on the floor crying her chickie heart out. as soon as she was back with the others she shut up! my birds sleep together but not in a tight huddle. they do stay near each other though. there are only 6 of them and they have been together from day one. i do not think they are too cold or too hot. the light is off as i type this and they are sleeping contentedley. still, i will watch them!

 

[jettgirl24]

Its funny because I've been so fussy about my brooder temp but in reality the chicks have been comfortable. When I got home from work last night the temp was down from 85 to 77 and they could've cared less. They seem much hardier now that they're out of their first week and they are a lot less fussy. Noisy little buggers though!

 

[JimboJohn]

Wow! this has been really helpful for me. I got my first chicks two weeks ago, and have had the heat lamp on 24/7. I don't have a thermometer and just assumed they would move closer or farther away depending. The peeps seem to have been just fine!

 

[Tala]

Quote:
I'm heavily in favor of this idea. My own peeps are out on the grass, in an open-floor brooder hut, with a 250W red lamp. It's amazing how much time a peep will spend cruising about in 48-degree weather, well away from the heat lamp, and then run back to warm up for a minute or two. This really leads to some strong, quickly developing peeps.

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/designerchickens/Group 1H-10/5833b93b15c7.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae275/designerchickens/Group 1H-10/234375312a45.jpg

Yeah that. I like to brood in my chicken tractor's run. It has a 3-sided end that houses the feed and red lightbulb. The chicks go under the heat when they need to. I think they grow out good in there!

I try to never EVER have chicks in the house longer than 2 weeks, and right now I've got babies in the doghouse that I brought home from TSC tonight. THEY aren't on the grass yet, but they barely even have a feather so give 'em a few days. LOL

 

[gritsar]

A.T. Hagan :

Quote:
This is what I do as well. The chicks will tell you if they are too hot or cold by the way they are behaving.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1087/2902-1087.html
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1087/L_2902108702.jpg

.....Alan.

I agree with this also. After their first two weeks of being brooded under heat lamps in a shed, my chicks were brooded on the screen porch with a draft guard. They were off their heat completely by 5 1/2 weeks old and outside playing in the grass at 2 1/2 weeks old, with me close-by to watch and know when they needed to go back under "mama", (their heat lamp).​

 

[Marylizbet]

Ok, So if I take out the heatlamp at night, will they be alright? Should I just watch and see? I've heard you should have light for only 16 hours. The room they are in will stay 70 constantly all night. What if I put a top on? Also, when they get moved outside (currently to cold) could I still turn it off at night? Or is 50 degrees way to cold? How cold is ok if they are just sleeping? Thanks. Mary

 

[NickyPick]

I started turning off the heat light in the afternoons when my bunch turned 3 weeks. By 4 weeks, I was turning it off when I left for work at 5:30am and didn't turn it back on until 9pm. Other than a few outraged peeps the first time they experienced darkness, they were fine. If they're a little cold, they pile. If they're warm, they spread out on the little perches. I figure they're fine with this method because they're not vocal about it at all.