The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Carey boy on May 27, 2015, 05:27:01 pm
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Hi,
This is my first time using an incubator. I have no idea how long I have to keep the chicks under a brooder/heat lamp. Any advice please.
Dave
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Hi there. I always keep my new hatchlings under continual heat for the first week then I gradually raise the brooder by about half an inch every 3 days or so. A lot depends on the temperature in the room also. If the chicks are too warm they will move out from under the brooder and if they are chilled they will huddle together. I must admit I tend to play it by ear by watching them and making adjustments accordingly. Once they feather up and get more active I turn it off during the day and maybe just have it on at night when it's chilly. Mine are usually off heat in a month, then I would transfer them to an outside house and run with plenty of bedding. Hope this helps!
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The figures I've seen say to start them at 35C and reduce that figure by 3 degrees every week. In practice a lot depends on the ambient temperature and bantams are more sensitive than large fowl. What the books don't explain is that you must not heat the entire area to that temperature, so they can get out well away from the heat and return to sleep. The critical time is the first week.
Our bantams are now very happy at 15 degrees. They should be on 20 degrees by the previous formula, so its perhaps not quite correct?
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I use a very large cardboard box in an unheated room in the house (the sort that fridges get delivered in) and leave the infra red at the same height for three weeks, so they can move near it if necessary, then turn it off during the day a couple of times, then all day and then they're outside in a purpose built run (solid sides, flat top that's half clear Perspex and half wire) in a barn for a further three weeks.