Source for heat?

[suburbanchick]

We have one more night of 30-ish temps, then I'm going to put my 5 week old chicks OUTSIDE! It's supposed to be 50 at the minimum for the next week or so after tonight. I'm so ready for them to leave the garage, and I'm sure they are ready too.

So I need to get a heat lamp of some kind. I have NO CLUE what to get. Is this something I can go buy at Ace hardware, like a light socket to screw a bulb in, then get my husband to wire it to the electrical outlet outside? Or do I need one of those EXPENSIVE setups like I just saw in PetSmart for reptiles? They're like $40!

Whatever I get, I want to be able to eventually put a timer on it so I can make sure they get 15 or so hours of daylight in the winter, like I read about in Storey's Guide, so they will keep laying year-round.

What do you guys use? There has to be a cheap and easy solution.

And it can't take up a lot of room bc my coop is SMALL.

 

[kstaven]

How big is the coop and how many chicks? If it is small, then a 125 watt heat bulb from any farm supply will work for you.

 

[suburbanchick]

The coop is very small (2' x 3' x 3'). Yesterday I bought one of those mechanic lights from Walmart. Hopefully that will heat it up a bit. I'm going to do an experiment tonight and see how well it heats up a small space outside. I imagine it won't be altogether accurate since the chicks generate some heat of their own, but it will give me an idea.

I really want them to move outside, but I don't want to make them uncomfortable or endanger them.

The temps beginning tomorrow night will be between 50 and 60... wonder if this will be OK for them? They are 5 weeks old and have been in the garage where I've been able to keep it around 60 - 65, even when the temps outside were around 30.