I'm about to get some chicks in the mail. I have a heat lamp with 150w ceramic bulb and automatic shutoff. I have to get it pretty low to get to the 95 degree mark. But there is plenty of room for the chicks to get under safely. My question is, will having food and water on the cool side hurt anything in these first few days?
You NEED to have the food and water on the cool side of the brooder. And, I can't stress enough the absolute importance of having the brooder be big enough to allow the chicks to HAVE a cool end. With my first batch of chicks, I used a heat lamp, and faithfully checked the temps. I had a dimmer switch. Yet, shortly after doing a temp check, I walked into the living room to find my chicks panting. The temp under the heat lamp had risen to 110*F. CRISIS situation. If I had not walked into the room at that time, I have no doubt that those chicks would have died.
Thank you @Blooie for introducing me to MHP. I am convinced that I will never use a heat lamp again, as long as it is in my power to have a functioning heating pad. IMO, the fact that feed stores push the 250W heat lamp on unsuspecting customers is unethical. IMO, they see the heat lamp as yet an other quick easy sale to boost their revenue during chick season. A 250W lamp is simply not appropriate to use in a heated home. It becomes even more dangerous when set up in a rubbermaid tote
The place where a 250W heat lamp is appropriate: when brooding large numbers of chicks in a LARGE BROODER in an unheated area.