Hy all i have my 2 chicks in a box in house with heat plate but as there out growing this i have made a wood box 4ft long with heat lamp to go in garage only down side my garage has no windows so its pitch black will the chick be ok in there for few weeks or not as theyll only be the red light from heat lamp
Brooder advise
- Thread starter dye29
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No, they must have good daylight to grow properly. If they don't get enough vitamin D from sunlight, they won't be able to make strong bones. You must either provide a daytime lamp with bulb that says it is a daylight equivalent, or preferably find a way of putting them somewhere in proper daylight.
3441sussex
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If you Google 'Daylight Bulbs' a numbers of bulb companies appear who sell these bulbs.
rick
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Sorry to cast doubt on this dye29, but getting it right with artificial daylight is not going to be easy. Is there no way of giving them natural daylight?
It's very easy to underestimate the amount of energy that comes through a window on an overcast day - which is approximately the quality and density of light energy that you will be trying to mimic. The type of florescent bulb or tube will have a horticultural specification, for growing young plants or, if you can find one, specifically specified for rearing young poultry? A household 'daylight' light bulb will not produce any UV energy (it will just look somewhat like daylight) and that wont do what you want.
You will also need a shade and probably a florescent transformer - it's unlikely to just plug into the mains or into a household bulb holder. There maybe something in the compact florescent range that does - I haven't seen such a thing though.
Also be careful that you dont over-do it! The distance of a lamp from its subject is inversely proportional to the energy it delivers.
If I had to try then I think I would be trying about a 48W 'grow lamp' with a reflector at about a metre from the brooder for about 8 hours in the day with a bit of shade on the brooder so they can get out of the 'sun' if they want to) and a couple of hours of fairly low light from a standard bulb to make 'dawn' and 'dusk' a bit gentler.
But I've never tried so this is total guesswork!
The amount of light that actually comes through a window if more akin to 250W dull-overcast and 800W full summer sun per square meter of surface but at these artificial energies things could go very wrong!!!
It's very easy to underestimate the amount of energy that comes through a window on an overcast day - which is approximately the quality and density of light energy that you will be trying to mimic. The type of florescent bulb or tube will have a horticultural specification, for growing young plants or, if you can find one, specifically specified for rearing young poultry? A household 'daylight' light bulb will not produce any UV energy (it will just look somewhat like daylight) and that wont do what you want.
You will also need a shade and probably a florescent transformer - it's unlikely to just plug into the mains or into a household bulb holder. There maybe something in the compact florescent range that does - I haven't seen such a thing though.
Also be careful that you dont over-do it! The distance of a lamp from its subject is inversely proportional to the energy it delivers.
If I had to try then I think I would be trying about a 48W 'grow lamp' with a reflector at about a metre from the brooder for about 8 hours in the day with a bit of shade on the brooder so they can get out of the 'sun' if they want to) and a couple of hours of fairly low light from a standard bulb to make 'dawn' and 'dusk' a bit gentler.
But I've never tried so this is total guesswork!
The amount of light that actually comes through a window if more akin to 250W dull-overcast and 800W full summer sun per square meter of surface but at these artificial energies things could go very wrong!!!
Minorcafan
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When I worked on a rearing unit many years ago, light was provided with tungsten 60w bulbs. No windows for daylight . Chicks grew to breeding stock very successfully.
You'll need to sort out alternative arrangements soon as I believe you now have another batch of eggs in the incubator. The new chicks you hope to hatch won't be able to join the ones you have at the moment, as the age difference will be too great. How old are the first lot now? If you've been gradually reducing the temperature in the brooder, I'd imagine that at this time of year they would normally be well enough feathered to go outside during the day in a small run on grass, with a waterproof cover over the top. They'd certainly benefit from this immensely, and would be OK brought in to an unheated brooder box overnight, without extra light.
rick
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I know almost nothing about using brooders - just bulbs! 
The modern (and very commonly available) equivalent of a tungsten bulb is a halogen. Filament bulbs like these are 'smoother' than direct mains (ballasted) florescent tubes although modern compact florescent 'bulbs' and domestic LED lighting are usually pretty smooth too. Personally, if you wave a pen or ruler under the light and you get a 'strobe' effect, I wouldn't use it for chickens of any age as the flicker would be very annoying for them.
They must have been getting enough Vit D from their feed.Minorcafan said:
The modern (and very commonly available) equivalent of a tungsten bulb is a halogen. Filament bulbs like these are 'smoother' than direct mains (ballasted) florescent tubes although modern compact florescent 'bulbs' and domestic LED lighting are usually pretty smooth too. Personally, if you wave a pen or ruler under the light and you get a 'strobe' effect, I wouldn't use it for chickens of any age as the flicker would be very annoying for them.
