When to take heat lamp off birds?

[wingzrooke]

My birds are now about 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 weeks old (three are older than the rest). They have most of their feathers in, except for the runt. We've moved them out of the brooder into the big cage now, but my question is: when do we take off the heat lamp. Our place is air-conditioned, so I don't want them to freeze, but I also am concerned we might be messing up their sleeping schedules...

 

[Danny C.]

At 3 weeks can be down to 85 degrees and 4 weeks 80 degrees. If you keep your home AC below 72 or lower, then wait for the experts to weigh in on that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My suggestion is to take it off as soon as you can be around to observe. Let them tell you if they need it or not. They'll know more about that than anyone over the internet. They are the true experts.

If they huddle with each other and give a plaintive peep they are cold. If they act normal everything is OK. They will still probably sleep in a group for company, that doesn't necessarily mean they are cold. How do they act when they are not sleeping?

 

[le_bwah]

My birds stopped sleeping under their heating plate at two weeks, so that's when I took it out of the brooder. They've done fine so far. But every clutch is different, so it would be best to pay attention to how yours act. If they're huddling near the light most of the time, they're probably not ready to have it taken away. If they're up and exploring away from it often, they might be ready. You can always put it back in if it turns out they needed it longer.

 

[Erkenstein]

I raise the heat lamp every few days and pay attention to whether they gather underneath it. My most recent birds went outside without a lamp at 2.5 weeks old (50 degrees at night and 70-80 during the day).

 

[wingzrooke]

Well, they are up and away from it often enough. They sleep under it at night, but that's probably because it shines on the dirt bath where they prefer to sleep. They do cry often enough, but they seem to just be a very chatty bunch altogether. I think originally it was them missing their momma bird, because it's lowered in amount over time. And where the heat is compared to them doesn't seem to make a difference in amount of chirps.

 

[Erkenstein]

In a batch of birds I usually have one or two who chirp and chirp. They aren't in distress or anything when they do it. If they were cold they wouldn't chirp; instead, they would covey up in a rugby scrum. That's when you need to warm things up so no one gets smothered.