When should I turn the heat lamp on?

I plugged it in at the same time I put the chicks in the brooder.

 

I think earlier than that. In a draft free room I had a hard time regulating the temp. It varied from 78 to 108 for no discernable reason. Get it started the night before with a thermometer in the brooder so you know where you are. Depending on where the PO is it will take awhile to heat up, and you don't want to be dealing with the light when you want to be dealing with your chicks!

 

You can do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Personally, I plug in the light when I put the chicks in the cardboard box which serves as my brooder. I haven't had one complain yet!

 

Quote:I do the same thing.

 

I personally prefer to turn it on the day before. This insures the bedding is completely dry, everything is warm, and most importantly gives me time to fix or correct things if something turns out to be wrong with my set up. Have a spare bulb on hand as well.

 

I conducted a "dry run" test a few days before our chicks were expected so I could fiddle with the arrangement to get it just right. Then, when I knew how the system performed and about how long it would take for it to warm up to the desired temperature, I shut it off until needed.

We got our chicks from a neighbor, so they were not stressed or possibly chilled from shipment. I would think it would be even more important to be able to put chicks into a properly warmed brooder promptly if they are coming out of a shipment box.

 

I would say the night before - or first thing in the morning. I don't overly worry about what the temp is... the chicks body language will tell you. I have a therm strip in there just for curiosity sake.

 

I was being super over careful and turned mine on the morning before- about 24 hours. I didn' know what they had to face in the mail (for 2 days) so I wanted them to be very comfy when they got home. Probably not necessary, but that's what I did.

 

I would definitely suggest putting it on before hand. It's no fun to plug in the lamp and find out it doesn't work or the bulb is blown when you have a box full of unhappy babies who want to warm up and eat. Girl Scout Motto: Be Prepared!