Yesterday we turned the heat lamp off during the day (leaving the Electric Hen on), and we left it off until we went to bed. The chicks were fine - they were sleeping partly under the EH, some were away from the EH, so we could see they were warm enought. We debated whether to leave it off overnight, which would be our preference, but decided not to, as the temperatures can drop quite a lot. It probably wouldn't matter, as the EH is their main source of heat, but as we've been using the lamp I don't really feel able to just leave it off completely yet.
Why do we want the lamp off? Well, having it on creates permanent "daylight" and so the chicks just eat and sleep and run around and then sleep again, for 24 hours. Without the lamp, the night-time is the night-time, and they tend to sleep during it. It's more natural - what the chicks would be doing if they had a mummy hen. Leaving it off until we go to bed at least gives them a few hours of darkness, so I think we'll do the same tonight.
The shoulder feathers have started appearing on the most well developed of the chicks, I'll try and get some pictures later.
Why do we want the lamp off? Well, having it on creates permanent "daylight" and so the chicks just eat and sleep and run around and then sleep again, for 24 hours. Without the lamp, the night-time is the night-time, and they tend to sleep during it. It's more natural - what the chicks would be doing if they had a mummy hen. Leaving it off until we go to bed at least gives them a few hours of darkness, so I think we'll do the same tonight.
The shoulder feathers have started appearing on the most well developed of the chicks, I'll try and get some pictures later.
