4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[ChrisEllis]

Hi,

 

I have my chicks and i was wondering i have a brooder lamp over there brooder...when can i turn it off? because we are keeping them in our bar/sitting room area and its always very warm in there...coz its in our house, i was wondering if it was worth taking their brooder away from them sort of nowish as they are approaching two weeks old as otherwise by the time they are put outside it will be a big step from an inside warm house to an outside cold coop...need some opinions

[Redwing]

My chicks are a couple of weeks old now, I turn the lamp off during the day and put it on at night, on chillier days it stays on

 

Dont take the lamp away completely raise it higher and higher to make the brooder gradually cooler, I do this from 3-4 weeks in

 

After 5 or 6 weeks they should be ok with no heat at all and you can start leaving them outside in the day. at about 8+ weeks they can go out in a very sheltered run

 

Mine will be going from the house to a stable and will not go out full time till the spring though

 

This is what I would do at this time of year, at other times of the year you can put them out earlier and during the winter you need to do the process slower

 

Most importantly be led by the chicks if they huddle together they are cold if they fan away from the lamp they are too warm, pecking around and playing about is ideal

Edited September 22, 2009 by Guest

[ChrisEllis]

ok thanks for that, they dont really go near where the brooder lamp is shining, never have done, so i always been raising it, i thinki i might turn it off in the day and keep it high and see how they react to it, i catn really afford to have the chicks in my house for a long time, will start getting smelly and not very appropriate, so will put them outside at about 5 weekss old and if they are too cold i will bring them back in a bit

[Redwing]

I have some silke crosses which are 5 or 6 weeks old and there is no way I would put them outside yet

 

In the summer its ok to put them out early but with the damp, cool nights we have at this time of year they will get chilled through quiite quickly especially as they are fluffy

 

Damp conditions and young chicks is a recipe for disease and illness too

 

Its more about what the chicks need than the inconvenience of having them indoors unfortunately, remember they are incapable of making the decision for themselves so rely on you to make the right call. could you maybe move them to a hutch in a shed or garage instead of putting them outdoors?

[laurmurf]

Hiya ChrisEllis,

I can only support Redwing's post: they won't be fully feathered at 5 weeks - some feathers but some down too - so they won't have the body warmth 'locked in' next to their skin the way a fully-feathered chook would. That's how a fully grown chook keeps warm (the fluffy feathers near the skin trap the warmth like a duvet, and the harder 'locked in' feathers contain the heat loss).

 

I hatched for the first time this year, but under a broody. Even on a summer's day, if there was a breeze the chicks would huddle under mum until they warmed up enough to come back out for another wander. She would gather them up too, and usher them indoors even , if it ever got too cool or rainy.

 

Maybe the odd indian summer afternoon when they are much older, they could go out for a wander for an hour or so, and then brought back in? But no, I'm afraid they'll be indoor chooks for a while! At least you'll get to know their characters quite well by then!

[TAJ]

You should start at 95F and then drop it by 5f each week, not coming off heat all together until at least 5-6 weeks. Mine start in the house with the lamp down close, with it moved higher each week. After two weeks the whole set up goes into the brick outhouse, from weeks 4 it is on a timer so they get a few hours at a time without it and get use to some dark, before transferring outside at around 6 weeks.

 

Tracy

[laurmurf]

Hi TAJ

would you put them outside at 6 weeks at this time of the year too? I thought it would be too cold, particularly in the nights?

[Egluntyne]

At this time of year I would urge you not to put them outside too early. The weather can change suddenly and become bitterly cold and they will not withstand it.

 

If you are going to tinker with the lamp settings, you must observe them closely, and make any readjustments as soon as they appear chilled. They are only babies and very vulnerable.

 

A little more research should have been done before you embarked upon hatching, Chris. There are enormous amounts of info available about the need for and use of brooding lamps and other equipment, and the mess caused by the dander which occurs when the chicks shed their feathers.

As for them being smelly, that is down to good housekeeping. The bedding will need changing every day if they are in your sitting room.

[Falkor]

I can only say that advice posted by Redwing, Taj, Eglutine and laurmurf should be followed. Great advice people

 

To hatch at this time of year means that chicks will be inside for considerably longer than hatching in the spring/early summer. When hatching I feel that it is important to have taken all factors into account before embarking on such a project because as Tasha says the chicks rely on their human mum and dad to make the right choices for them.

 

Chris - if you are going to try turning the lamp off in the day now are you at home to check on them?

[ChrisEllis]

Well i'm at school!!! still a kid lol, this is a big project for me, i understand i need to read more, but it would become extortionate otherwise and i dditn really want to wait another year until i get chicks, but there is someone always home to see if they are ok, they have never sat underneath the lamp so they should be ok if i raise it now and again, i have ready in books 4-6 weeks but i post the questions to get peoples advice - not because i have no knowledge.

 

Thanks everyone i will keep it in mind, i'll put them out at 8 weeks

[Lesley]

They should be well feathered at 8 weeks old but you'll still need to make a judgement based on the weather conditions at the time.

 

We have ducklings still under a heat lamp - I use a dull emitter bulb from day one so that they grow up used to day and night. I raise it weekly so that they are off heat around 4 weeks old but at this time of year I will take a bit longer. I wouldn't normally hatch at this time of year but our drake was not going to be around any longer and we needed to use the last of the fertilised eggs.

 

Ours are in an outbuilding and will stay there until around 8 weeks and then will be introduced to a sheltered run area on a day when it looks like we will have a few days of settled weather.

[Lewis]

Mine never really sat under the heat lamp, but I had a digital thermometer in the brooder to check the temperature. When the lamp was turned off they used to all huddle up and start cheeping, so I think its best to leave the lamp on.

4-6 weeks is probably an American book, or talking about the summer time when it is warmer.

 

It's been said before, all this including the cost of running an incubator and brooder (and what to do with cockerels) need to be thought of before hatching and you may have been better.

 

Do I sound like a broken record?

[Cooks]

there's some great advice given there by some very knowledgeable people, good luck with it.

[TAJ]

I have had two over winter broods go outside at 5-6 weeks, in November & February with no issue, but they were fast growing table birds and fully feathered up, slower growing birds might need longer. Like others on here have mentioned I keep a thermometer in the brooder so I can check the temp. The basic rule is they are all huddled under the heat source with streched necks (trying to get closer) they are too cold, lower heat source. If they are constantly avoiding being directly under the heat source and spread to the egdes of the brooder they are too cold. Once they are fully feathered up and able to control their own temperature slowly take away the heat source, observing behaviour.

 

So no quick change, monitor behaviour and adjust what you are doing accordingly.

 

Tracy