Of all the . . .
Mar. 29th, 2012 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trystinnThe folks I sold 4 chicks to are now having trouble. They are having trouble because they didn't listen to me! *headdesk*
I told them to get an infrared heat lamp. They got the white one. The white ones are for broody hens who need help heating up their bodies, because that's what the white ones do, they raise the temperature of the object the light rests upon. That sounds like what you want, its actually exactly what you DON'T want.
What you want is to raise the ambient temperature of the air around them. You want their environment to be warm. You do not want to overheat the chicks! Overheating them makes it difficult for them to digest food, it dehydrates them. It also makes it very difficult for them to sleep, because to get good rest, their body temperature needs to drop a little. Just like yours. Also, there's that whole DON'T BBQ THE CHICKS!
Now yes, sometimes chicks will be just fine with the wrong lamp. Sometimes, despite all our stupidity and arrogance, chicks do just fine. Except one of theirs aren't. And that's because (chime in with me now) they are doing it wrong!
Yesterday, these idiots insisted that they've done this before and they know what they are doing. So the smallest one is having trouble now. And of course, they are scrambling to get chick booster and hopefully a proper damn infrared heat lamp!
In the interest of fairness, standard-sized chicks may have done fine with that sort of lamp. More body mass and all. Silkies are true bantams. Smaller bodies, not as much resilience. And of course, they are coming from my house where I know how to take care of them exactly as they need it. So now, that little guy is in a foreign environment and his system isn't doing well. *shakes fist*
I told them to get an infrared heat lamp. They got the white one. The white ones are for broody hens who need help heating up their bodies, because that's what the white ones do, they raise the temperature of the object the light rests upon. That sounds like what you want, its actually exactly what you DON'T want.
What you want is to raise the ambient temperature of the air around them. You want their environment to be warm. You do not want to overheat the chicks! Overheating them makes it difficult for them to digest food, it dehydrates them. It also makes it very difficult for them to sleep, because to get good rest, their body temperature needs to drop a little. Just like yours. Also, there's that whole DON'T BBQ THE CHICKS!
Now yes, sometimes chicks will be just fine with the wrong lamp. Sometimes, despite all our stupidity and arrogance, chicks do just fine. Except one of theirs aren't. And that's because (chime in with me now) they are doing it wrong!
Yesterday, these idiots insisted that they've done this before and they know what they are doing. So the smallest one is having trouble now. And of course, they are scrambling to get chick booster and hopefully a proper damn infrared heat lamp!
In the interest of fairness, standard-sized chicks may have done fine with that sort of lamp. More body mass and all. Silkies are true bantams. Smaller bodies, not as much resilience. And of course, they are coming from my house where I know how to take care of them exactly as they need it. So now, that little guy is in a foreign environment and his system isn't doing well. *shakes fist*
