Chicks should be placed under a brooding lamp after being removed from the incubator. Again, there are all sorts of sophisticated equipment on the market ranging in price from Rs. 1650 to Rs.15400. I use a cardboard box with a brooder light base. The boxes used are fairly large ones so that the chicks will not outgrow their accommodations too quickly. For the beginner, this is what I suggest. Get a Y-shaped electrical socket from your local hardware store as well as a brooder lamp which comes with double insulated electrical components. Screw the Y-shaped socket inside the brooder lamp base and then mount two incandescent light bulbs inside the socket. In early spring, I recommend using two 60-watt bulbs; as summer progresses, use two 40-watt bulbs. The reason for using two bulbs is so that when one burns out in the middle of the night or when you’re away at the office or something, the chicks still get heat from the other bulb. Always keep a good stock in hand and replace the burnt one as soon as possible. Also use two different aged bulbs so they don’t both burn at the same time.
One last thing about light bulbs. I use a spray can called Beauti-Tone (Home Hardware brand) enamel and paint the bulbs either red or blue. I have tried other brands but the paint never seems to dry well on the bulb and produces a burning odour after the lights have been on for awhile. Chicks kept together in a relatively confined space such as in a brooder have a tendency to peck each other, a nasty habit which can lead to deformed beaks and sometimes even death. Poultry and game bird breeders have discovered that if you use coloured light bulbs, the chicks are less prone to peck each other. The lights should be attached about 16 inches off the floor. Wood shavings are used for bedding for the first four weeks. After the chicks have been in the brooder for 10 minutes or so, check their behaviour. If you see them huddled together in one large group with each of them trying to get to the centre, which is the warmest part, then they’re too cold. Put a cover over the box leaving a space for air of course. If you see them with their beaks open panting for breadth, they’re obviously too hot. Raise the light bulbs or remove the cover if one is present. If they’re randomly distributed throughout the brooder or laying on top of the shavings in a circle surrounding the outer periphery of the brooder lamp, you’ve got the temperature just right.