As temperatures begin to fall, providing animals with a warm, comfortable area can become an important part of good animal husbandry. But an infrared heat lamp does more than simply make an animal's surroundings warmer. Radiant heat can directly warm the animal, support normal thermoregulation, influence local blood flow and help young or vulnerable animals cope with cold conditions.

As autumn approaches and temperatures begin to drop across the UK, farmers and animal keepers naturally start thinking about keeping livestock warm.

For young animals in particular, cold weather can be more than an inconvenience. Maintaining body temperature requires energy, and animals that cannot adequately regulate their temperature can become chilled, stressed and more susceptible to health problems.

This is where an infrared heat lamp can provide a useful source of supplementary heat.

Unlike heating an entire building, an infrared lamp provides localised radiant heat, allowing animals to move towards the heat when they need it and away from it when they don't.

And that distinction is important.

Why do animals need supplementary heat?

Animals are constantly producing heat through normal metabolism. Under comfortable conditions, the heat they produce is generally sufficient to maintain their body temperature.

As the surrounding temperature falls, however, the balance changes.

The animal begins losing heat to its surroundings. If heat loss becomes greater than the amount of heat being produced, the animal has to use additional energy to maintain its core temperature.

This is particularly important in young animals, which often have a much greater difficulty regulating body temperature than healthy adults.

For example, newborn piglets have a thermoneutral temperature of around 34°C, considerably higher than the temperature normally maintained in a farrowing room for the sow. This is why dedicated heated creep areas are commonly provided for piglets.

The UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency guidance similarly recognises cold stress as a particular concern for very young pigs and recommends supplementary heating where environmental conditions create a risk from cold.

Young poultry have similar requirements. UK guidance states that chicks are particularly susceptible to chilling during their first weeks of life and require additional heat.

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How does an infrared heat lamp work?

An infrared heat lamp doesn't need to heat the entire room before an animal can benefit from it.

Instead, the lamp emits infrared radiation, which travels from the lamp to surrounding surfaces and the animal itself.

When the radiation is absorbed, it is converted into heat.

This makes radiant heating particularly useful for animal housing because a keeper can create a warm zone within a cooler environment.

An animal can then regulate its own exposure by moving closer to the lamp when it is cold or moving away when it has reached a comfortable temperature.

This principle is recognised in animal husbandry. AHDB explains that heating systems relying primarily on radiant output can have a significant effect on the lower critical temperature of pigs, with a piglet beneath a heat lamp able to remain above its much higher thermal requirement even when the surrounding room is considerably cooler.

In other words, you don't necessarily need to heat everything to keep an animal warm.

You can heat the area where the animal actually needs it.

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It's not simply about making the air warmer

One of the biggest advantages of radiant heating is that the animal receives heat directly.

This is different from simply increasing the air temperature throughout a shed, stable, kennel, poultry house or other animal environment.

A heat lamp can provide:

• A warm resting area
• Localised supplementary heat
• A way for animals to seek warmth when required
• Support for young animals with limited thermoregulation
• Protection against cold stress
• Radiant warming without having to heat an entire building

This can be particularly useful where only part of the accommodation needs additional heating.

For example, a farrowing area may need to remain comfortable for an adult sow while newborn piglets have considerably higher thermal requirements. A localised heat source helps bridge that difference.

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Infrared heat and blood circulation

There is also a physiological reason why warmth can be beneficial beyond simply making an animal feel comfortable.

Local warming causes blood vessels in the heated area to dilate, increasing blood flow to the skin.

This is a well-established physiological response to local heating. Research has demonstrated that local heat causes increases in skin blood flow, with mechanisms involving both the nervous system and nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation.

Research in animals has demonstrated similar responses. Studies have found that local infrared heating can produce changes in peripheral blood flow even when the animal's deeper body temperature remains unchanged.

This matters because blood circulation plays an important role in transporting oxygen, nutrients and heat around the body.

It is therefore reasonable to say that the physiological effects of warming extend beyond simply raising the temperature of the surrounding air.

However, it is important not to overstate this.

Infrared heat isn't a veterinary treatment by itself

There is a growing body of research into infrared radiation, heat therapy and photobiomodulation in veterinary medicine, including research into inflammation, tissue repair and circulation.

However, specialised photobiomodulation equipment is not the same as a conventional 250 W infrared heat lamp.

A standard animal heat lamp should therefore primarily be considered a source of controlled radiant heat, rather than a substitute for veterinary treatment.

That's actually a useful distinction for an honest, trustworthy article — you can explain the science without making medical claims that the product cannot substantiate.

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Supporting natural thermoregulation

Animals don't simply have an internal thermostat that switches their temperature on and off.

They continually adjust their behaviour and physiology according to their environment.

When an animal becomes cold, it can alter posture, seek shelter, huddle with other animals and increase metabolic heat production.

Providing a localised heat source gives the animal another option:

move towards the warmth.

This is one reason why positioning a heat lamp correctly is so important.

A good heated area should allow the animal to benefit from the heat while still being able to move away from it.

Government guidance for poultry similarly recommends providing young birds with suitable additional heat while using their behaviour as an important indicator of whether they are too hot or too cold.

If animals are constantly piling directly beneath a heat source, they may be seeking more warmth.

If they are avoiding the heated area or showing signs of overheating, the temperature may be too high.

The animal's behaviour is one of the best indicators.

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Why supplementary heat can be particularly important for young animals

Young animals are often the biggest beneficiaries of supplementary heating.

Newborn piglets, for example, have limited ability to regulate their body temperature and are particularly vulnerable to hypothermia.

Research investigating different supplementary heat sources for suckling piglets found that infrared heat lamps were capable of providing effective supplemental heat, with piglets spending comparable amounts of time under infrared lamps and heated mats.

Other research has found that radiant heating provided around the birth site reduced the fall in body temperature experienced by newborn piglets.

The reason this matters goes beyond comfort.

When an animal becomes cold, maintaining body temperature requires energy. AHDB notes that when temperatures fall below an animal's lower critical temperature, energy from feed can be diverted away from growth and towards maintaining body temperature. In extreme circumstances, particularly in young animals, low temperatures can also affect mortality.

So supplementary heat can help animals use their available energy for normal growth and development rather than simply fighting the cold.

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Infrared heat lamps for poultry

Poultry keepers have long used infrared lamps as brooders for young birds.

Day-old chicks have particularly high temperature requirements and need additional heat during their early development.

The University of Minnesota Extension specifically identifies infrared lamps as a suitable heat source for brooding chicks and gives guidance for using a 250 W infrared lamp. It also recommends monitoring the chicks themselves rather than relying solely on the room temperature.

This principle is particularly useful because a heat lamp can create a temperature gradient.

The area directly beneath the lamp is warmest, with temperatures gradually decreasing further away.

The chicks can therefore choose where they are most comfortable.

This is preferable to simply attempting to make the entire building one uniform temperature.

 

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Infrared heat lamps for pigs, poultry and other livestock

Although heat lamps are particularly associated with piglets and poultry, supplementary radiant heat can be useful in many animal environments where additional localised warmth is required.

Potential applications include:

Piglets
Providing a warm creep area, particularly during the first days and weeks of life.

Chicks and young poultry
Providing the additional heat required during brooding.

Lambs and other young livestock
Providing supplementary warmth when weather conditions or individual circumstances increase the risk of chilling.

Small or vulnerable animals
Creating a warm area where an animal can choose to seek additional heat.

The exact temperature requirements vary considerably between species, age, size, housing conditions and health status, so a heat lamp should always be used as part of appropriate animal husbandry rather than as a replacement for suitable shelter, bedding, nutrition or veterinary care.

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The benefits of a localised heat source

One of the biggest practical advantages of an infrared heat lamp is control.

Instead of heating an entire building, you can provide additional heat exactly where it is needed.

This can be particularly useful in agricultural buildings, where maintaining a high temperature throughout a large space can be impractical.

A localised heat source also allows animals to make their own choices.

They can:

Move closer → get warmer

Move further away → cool down

That ability to move between different temperatures is an important part of allowing animals to regulate their own thermal environment.

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Using an infrared heat lamp safely

Heat lamps produce significant temperatures and must be treated as a serious heat source.

Always follow the manufacturer's installation instructions and ensure the lamp is securely suspended.

Keep combustible materials, bedding and other objects away from the lamp and ensure that the animal cannot knock or pull the lamp into contact with flammable materials.

The lamp should also be positioned so that animals have enough space to move away from the heat.

This is particularly important because more heat isn't necessarily better.

An animal that cannot escape the heat can become overheated just as an animal without sufficient heat can become chilled.

Heat lamps can also cause burns if animals are exposed to excessive heat for prolonged periods, so positioning and monitoring are essential.

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So, is an infrared heat lamp really more than "just a heater"?

Yes — but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

The benefit isn't that infrared magically cures illness or replaces veterinary treatment.

The real advantage is that radiant heat interacts directly with the animal's thermal environment.

It can:

• Help maintain body temperature
• Reduce the effects of cold stress
• Provide important supplementary heat to young animals
• Allow animals to choose their preferred temperature
• Reduce the amount of the building that needs to be heated
• Produce physiological increases in local blood flow as tissue warms
• Help animals conserve energy that would otherwise be required to maintain body temperature

The science behind these effects is well established, particularly when it comes to thermoregulation and supplementary heating in young livestock.

So as temperatures begin to fall, an infrared heat lamp isn't simply about making a shed warmer.

It's about giving animals access to the warmth they need, when they need it.

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Need an infrared heat lamp?

If you're looking for a simple way to provide supplementary heat for livestock, poultry or other animals, an infrared heat lamp can be an extremely useful addition to the farm or animal housing.

Our Doblit 250 W Infrared Heat Lamp with High/Low Power Functions, provides a concentrated source of radiant heat and is supplied with a protective guard, making it suitable for use where additional localised warmth is required.

Whether you're preparing for colder autumn nights, setting up a brooding area for chicks or providing additional warmth for young livestock, having a reliable heat source ready before temperatures drop can make a significant difference.

Don't wait until the first cold night — get your heat lamp ready for the winter.

[Shop our Infrared Heat Lamp →]