Currently, we live on 40 acres of land in an off-grid RV. When we decided to get chickens, we knew that we wanted to raise them from chicks. There’s a huge difference between raisingchickens from chicksand purchasing them when they’re adults. Personally, I don’t want to guess how the chickens were raised by someone else for the first 3 to 9 months of their lives; I want full control over that.
The issue we ran into was not being able to supply a heat lamp for them — given that we live off-grid on solar energy alone. While we do have an onboard generator, it’s impractical to run it for a month straight just to power a heat lamp. At this time, we only have four batteries which supply around 210 amp-hours (AH) of usable energy. A heat lamp takes 250 watts to run on our 12-volt batteries, resulting in the use of 20.8AH of energy.
By the above math, if we were to run the heat lamp for 10 hours straight, it would consume all 210AH of energy we have. But of course, we have other things that use our energy, and completely draining batteries really isn’t a good idea. Plus, chickens need the heat lamp for longer than just 10 hours a day. Even if we only ran it at night, that’s about 10 to 12-ish hours of needing to run it full time.A heat lamp just wasn’t going to work.
I knew there had to be a way to raise chicks without a heat lamp. What did they do back in the day when heat lamps weren’t an option (let alone electricity)? While the hen was usually the go-to source, many hens reject their chicks or are simply too broody to raise them properly.
Besides, I was already skittish about using a heat lamp. We used a heat lamp on chicks that we had raised in the past before moving to full-time RV life. One day we went to the grocery store and returned to a house full of smoke because the heat lamp had fallen and caught the pine shavings on fire. The smoke inhalation killed three of our chicks. It was not an experience I wanted to relive.
Related Post:How To Hatch Eggs With Your Hens (Without An Incubator Or Brooder)
As I dug into the possibility of not using a heat lamp, lo and behold, I discovered a wide number of people not using heat lamps for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it just wasn’t necessary and there were better options.
Chicks don’t actually need a heat lamp. A heat lamp is easy because you just set it up, turn it on, and walk away. But they don’t need it. In fact, the lamps are actually a bit too hot for chicks.
Chicks need to be kept at a temperature between70 and 95 degrees Fahrenheitduring their first few weeks of life. There’s a big debate on the actual temperature that chicks need to be at, but through our experience and research, 70 to 95 has been perfect. Around six weeks, their feathers have grown in and they’re ready to be moved outdoors.
There are so many options to keep your chicks warm without a heat lamp. Let’s take a look at a few.
Line The Box With Mylar
Line the outside of a box with mylar (like the mylar from emergency blankets) or reflex. Place a large bedding of straw, feathers, paper, or other types of natural bedding materials.
把小鸡放在垫料上,把隔热盒盖在小鸡上。确保有足够的空气洞确保它们能吃到食物和水。它们应该能够自由走动,并在需要时蜷缩在一起。
Hand Warmers
Hand warmers are another option, though this could be expensive as hand warmers will only last for so long.
Sock Filled With Rice
在袜子里装满米饭,加热(在烤箱里以很低的温度或微波炉里),然后把袜子放进盒子里。它们会围在一起取暖。
Hot Water Jugs And Fleece
Get a plastic gallon container. Fill it with warm water that isn’t too cold or too hot. Some use tap water. I use boiling water and then just mix it with half room temperature water so it usually comes out to a perfect temperature.
Cut up some strips of fleece and drape them on the outside of the container. The chicks snuggle up between the fleece and the container and absolutely love it. I re-warm the water every three hours or so.
Hot Water Bag And Fleece
Place some warm water in a bag, wrap it in fleece, and place it in their box. They’ll snuggle up around it.
Tin Can And Fleece
I use this option for night time only, but it could actually be used for daytime as well. Make a small hole in the top of an empty, clean, tin can. Wrap it with fleece. Fill the tin can with boiling hot water, then place some cardboard around the can, and place it inside the box. It radiates A LOT of heat and the chicks absolutely love it. It also retains a lot of the heat, especially if it’s in an insulated box.
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The inside of our RV during the day is usually 80-plus degrees so they’re very happy during the daytime with the gallon jug of water. We keep a temperature gauge inside their box and check it often to make sure it’s within the right range.
You will know when your chicks are not happy. They will be very vocal about it and will show signs of not eating, not playing, and not acting like chickens should be acting. They should be scratching, pecking, playing around, and having a good time. Also, make sure to check their butts. If you see any crusted poop on their feathers, clean it off immediately as it can clog them up, and eventually take their life.
我们就是这样养大小企鹅的它们都很健康快乐。多年来,人们一直在没有加热灯的情况下饲养雏鸟,这种方法不仅安全,而且有效。
Ravisays
After how many hours does the tin can become cold
Gunjansays
How long can tin and fleece make them warm and what should be temperature of rice filled in sock
Camille Brownsays
I heat the sock in the microwave for about 2 and a half min and it keeps it warm for about a hour.
Aylasays
I personally lay a heated blanket / heating pad in or over the brooder and that helps to keep the chicks warm!
Randysays
谢谢,伟大的技巧。我最后用了一个孵卵器套件(加热灯/灯)等。为了方便,但这些选择肯定是有效的。
Isabella Hughessays
I actually only use the tin can’t and gallon methods for the first 3 weeks because I always raise at least four chicks at a time, as long as it’s not too cold after 3 weeks those four chicks can keep each other warm until they finish feathering, then again I live in Florida so even in summer it’s warm enough to raise chicks without a brooder
Isabellasays
Native Floridian and yeah same, I raise two at a time but there in the outdoor brooder by the age of 2 week. I usually raise 2 at a time but I leave a silkie in with em, Well tempered so they let my chicks snuggle up to them
Sawyer Cappssays
Can I get some more specific ways to make the tin can heater idea?
Jaesays
Not sure what you mean about the tin can method. If it’s empty, how do you make a small hole in the “top”?
We don’t have electricity and this would be the method we would use. Please help me understand how to do this method!!
Thank you
☺️
Angela C.says
Thanks for the tips! I didn’t even think about needing to watch for the dried poop!
Christinesays
How about just a pot with a lid? Probably easier than the tin can.
Lora Houwelingsays
最好的只是一个老式的热水瓶。它可以持续一整夜(不用起来加热水),你可以把它弄得很暖和,用手巾包好。它也很容易消毒,所以你可以反复使用它的许多其他用途,并很多年。