Is anyone using the Premier "heat plate" brooder for chicks?

[aart]

Thank you for the quick feedback ! I was wondering what kind of material to use in the broader I'm leaning towards play sand and PDZ. What do you think?

I used bagged sand(washed and kiln dried 'Quikcrete brand' fine sand) and PDZ mixed 4:1 for 2 broods now and I like it, used a reptile pooper scooper to clean up.
No apparent problem with eating too much sand....I used the lid of a storage container (12" x 18") to put the waterer and feeder on for the first week til they figured out what food was.

 

[Chickens R Us]

I have 29 chicks in the brooder under the large Premier and they all seem to be doing great. I was really nervous at first about the chicks staying warm enough, but they are running all over the place in the brooder and are quite at night. I give the Premier a two thumbs up.

 

[jbtcajun]

I ran across this thread today.
Many pages never read but about 5.
My question to those that have the Premiere is can it be used as a seed warming plate for starting seeds early in the garage?
I love multinational tools and around here the seeds need to be started and going before chick time.

 

[rnchick74]

I ran across this thread today.
Many pages never read but about 5.
My question to those that have the Premiere is can it be used as a seed warming plate for starting seeds early in the garage?
I love multinational tools and around here the seeds need to be started and going before chick time.

I don't see why not - just flip it upside down and set your starting tray on it. I would test it first - some plates appear to run warmer than others but this can be fixed by running on a dimmer switch so you can adjust the temp.

 

[SIMZ]

I started this thread WAY back and thought I'd chime in now that I've used the heat plate all chick season. Works GREAT! I may consider a second plate. I put my last batch of chicks outside in a brooder/hutch with the heat plate, and they've done wonderfully. The biggest concern I had was that it came unplugged a few times, but all was well. (It could have happened just as easily with a heat lamp.)

This heat plate is well worth the money.

 

[chrissyr]

Are the planning on putting a temp control gauge on it yet? I thought they were doing that this summer/fall

 

[ladycat]

I've been using one Eco-Glow and 2 Premier plates all spring now and they're still going. LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

I won't get any more Eco-Glows, due to the cheaper price on the Premiers. But I do plan to get some more Premier plates.

 

[quail325]

I really like my premier also. I have it setup in an outdoor brooder and have raised three batches of quail with it.I was going to buy a second one but they were out of stock so I built my own.It works great also for half the cost of the premier!!

 

[aart]

I really like my premier also. I have it setup in an outdoor brooder and have raised three batches of quail with it.I was going to buy a second one but they were out of stock so I built my own.It works great also for half the cost of the premier!!

Do tell!

 

[quail325]

I ripped a 2x4 and then dadoded it a half inch deep and used 1/16" aluminum plate slid that in and put a piece of 11" flex watt taped to the inside of it using the metal tape found at Lowe's.Drilled one hole on each corner and put all thread with washers and nuts through the holes to adjust the height of the heat plate.I used an in line dimmer switch to control the heat.it works great!!!