Heat Lamp - Update!
With my new WiFi camera monitoring capability, I discovered that my heat lamp wakes my hens up when it turns on. I have it set to turn on if the temperature reaches 31 degrees or less. I was once told that the red heat lamp allows them to sleep. But, I now have proof to the contrary! Just a couple of videos here that were captured within minutes of the heat lamp turning on. Within an hour they were all out and about in the dark run area, from around 1 am and on. Not good. So I ordered a ceramic heat lamp bulb, which doesn’t emit light. It won’t arrive until next Monday, 4 days from now, so I will be turning off my heat lamp for now. Fortunately it’s not that cold out. Dropped to 26 degrees last night but we’re headed for a slight wam up the next few days. Glad I discovered this before we reach temperatures below 20! Can’t wait to get the new ceramic bulb!
BOEESPAT Ceramic Heat Emitter 60W/100W/150W 2pack Reptile Heat Lamp Bulb Chicken Heater Light for Pet Brooder Coop Lizard Turtle Aquarium Snake, No Harm No Light, Black
I bought the 150W bulbs. Also less watts than the regular heat lamp bulb! Might be a good thing, but hopefully it throws sufficient heat!
Video proof that heat lamps, whether white OR red, wake chickens up and don’t allow them to sleep! AND to think that if I had not had my new WiFi cams in place, I never would have known about this! These are videos from about 30-60 seconds after the heat lamp turned on! They were sound asleep in the dark, the heat lamp turned on because the temperature dropped below 31, and seconds later they were wide awake, and then, not long after this, they went out into the run as if it was daytime! I know they didn’t leave because it was too warm or too hot in there either, as the temperature in the hen condo was still cold when they woke up! And the temperature only reached a maximum of 33.8 degrees that night! The outside temperature was 26 degrees. I have my WiFi thermometer sensor out there and I can see in the phone app what the temperatures are over time I have my heat lamp set to turn off when it reaches 38 degrees. And just in case of emergency, such as failure of the heat lamp to turn off at 38 degrees, I have an alarm set to tell me if it gets up to 50 degrees inside the hen condo. So, it was definitely the light of the heat lamp that woke them up, and not being too warm or too hot that woke them up! The light from the heat lamp also lights up the run areas somewhat, through the windows of the hen condo. I guess it was enough light for them to be able to see out there! Barely enough! LOL!
Screen shot of all but one hen out of the hen condo in the middle of the night! Nobody is sleeping!
I never used any heating lamps once they were fully matured. Things get quite cold around these parts at this time of the year especially and we've never had so much as one winter casualty. I never really thought about using one. Once the sun went down, they'd all migrate into the enclosed henhouse, huddle all together and sleep there in total darkness. I feel cold just reading this nonetheless. You're an amazing chicken owner and very compassionate when it comes to your hobby. Good for you! : )
ReplyDeleteI especially love the heat lamp when it gets down below 20, and especially when we get to to zero degrees or less! We always get little stretches of temps down to minus 10 outside! That’s usually when I’ve seen some frostbite on the tops of their crowns! So I’m hoping to prevent this moving forward. Plus, it’s great for the winter egg laying! If they’re a little warmer, they don’t have to burn lots of calories to stay warm, which impacts egg production because they’re not using all of their energy to stay warm. They’re using the energy to produce eggs instead! LOL!
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