Are heat plates really not for mail order chicks?

[OzarkEgghead]

I just placed my order with Cackle Hatchery & I noticed one of the things they make you agree to is to use a heat LAMP for at least the 1st 2 weeks. They say that mail order chicks need more heat than a heat PLATE can provide & that's why a lamp should be used instead. Is this true? Will a heat plate not be enough for my new chicks?

 

[nuthatched]

It will but they can be finicky and the chicks may not 'get' that they need to go under it to stay warm.

 

[OzarkEgghead]

What about using the heating pad over a tunnel method? Would that work well enough that I don't need a heat lamp? Heat lamps scare the boogers outta me.

 

[nuthatched]

What about using the heating pad over a tunnel method? Would that work well enough that I don't need a heat lamp? Heat lamps scare the boogers outta me.

It might as long as it doesn't have an auto shut off and can stay about 85-90 degrees at maximum , it should be fine.

 

[NatJ]

What about using the heating pad over a tunnel method? Would that work well enough that I don't need a heat lamp? Heat lamps scare the boogers outta me.

I would strongly recommend a heat lamp for at least the first few hours, no matter what else you want to use later.

When the chicks first arrive, they are cold and hungry and thirsty and in a new place.
The heat lamp provides light so they walk toward it.
It provides lots of heat, so they can warm up quickly.
And it lets them eat and drink while they are warming up.

With a brooder plate or a heating pad, the chicks need to learn to go inside. It does not provide as much heat at once, which is fine for chicks that are mostly warm but not for chicks that are very cold. And they have to choose between staying there to get warmer, or going to eat and drink.

If your chicks arrive in the morning, and you use a heat lamp for all of the first day, your chicks can get thoroughly warm and learn to eat and drink. During the day, you can also be watching to make sure there is no fire. Then in the evening, after the chicks are warm and have full crops, you could choose to tuck them under the brooder plate or heating pad and turn off the heat lamp. That would greatly reduce the chance of fire while you are sleeping, but the chicks should do much better just for having those few hours with the heat lamp.

For using a heat lamp on the first day with shipped chicks, I would have it closer to the chicks than most recommendations, so they have one area that is extra-warm. I aim for somewhere between 100 and 120 degrees directly under the center of the lamp, but I also make sure some other parts of the brooder are below 80 degrees so the chicks have a wide choice of temperatures. In the first few minutes, the chicks tend to crowd together right in that warmest area. Then some of them start to look more comfortable and explore, while others stay right under the heat for a bit longer. By the end of the day, they are usually ready to go to sleep in a circle around the heat lamp, maybe somewhere in the 90 to 100 degree part of the temperature band.

I have read posts from some people who raise shipped chicks with brooder plates and they do fine, and I have read posts from some other people who had chicks dying with brooder plates but the chicks did fine when heat lamps were added. I have also read posts from some people that experienced both: some batches of chicks needed the heat lamp while others were fine without it. Different weather during shipping can make a big difference to the chicks, and that may explain some of the differences.

When I have had shipped chicks, I have always used heat lamps in the first day, and I have only used heat lamps or broody hens after that. So I have no direct experience with brooder plates or with heating pad caves. But I have read quite a bit about them, paying attention to what good and bad experiences people post, and trying to understand why they get the different results.

 

[Whittni]

I watched that video too. Their chicken expert said the shipped chicks need the bulb for a couple weeks and immediately because the bulb heats up the air and the plate doesn't. The shipped chicks are weaker and don't have the energy left in them to bring up their body to 104* F.

 

[kana9]

I just received my chicks from Cackle hatchery this morning and had the same question after raising shipped chicks with just a heat plate in the past. However, I followed the instructions and added both a lamp and a plate in my brooder. I wanted to get them used to the plate that I plan to use later on from the beginning.

The chicks are choosing to stay under the lamp more than the plate so far. The temperature under the lamp is 95 on the brooder floor. They are moving around the brooder and not huddled under the lamp the whole time but seem to just walk under the plate instead of staying there to nap or warm up. They have lots of space so can get away from either heat source. All eight are acting happy and healthy and eating and drinking well.

 

[Captain13]

What about using the heating pad over a tunnel method? Would that work well enough that I don't need a heat lamp? Heat lamps scare the boogers outta me.

I never used a heat lamp on my new chicks that I got at three days old from the hatchery. I used the heat pad that I made with a Sunbeam heating pad over a wire frame. Low setting is 95, medium is 100 and high is about 107. Over the heat pad, I made a wooden shelf for them to lay on that stays warm from the heat pad. I also have a K&H heat plate that stays at 102 on the bottom of the plate. The chicks went right under the K&H after drinking and eating. The first night temp was 28 degrees here with the un heated garage at 38 degrees. The chicks would stay under the plate, warm up come out, eat, drink and walk around and when they started getting cold, they would go back under the plate or heating pad.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I just got shipped chicks and only used a heat plate (technically a heating pad I rigged up). They are on day 5 and doing great. Also the brooder is outdoors. I will say (1) it hasn’t been freezing - if outdoors in February it could be a different story, and (2) I did keep close tabs in them the first day and after a food and water break I snuggled them on my lap with a heating pad draped over them until I was 100% sure they weren’t chilled. But not sure that was necessary - it was adorable though and made me feel better?

 

[Tahai]

While i'm not discounting the advice to use a heat lamp at first, I do want to say that it is not a set-in-stone rule.

My 16 mail order chicks arrived mid march in upstate PA. I did not know about the heat lamp requirement, so I just put them all under the brooder plate. It worked fine with no problems. All chicks were hale and hearty. The only chick I lost was already in rough shape when I opened the box.

It might have helped that I have a larger plate, so the chicks could run around under it. I also popped them straight under the plate after beak-dipping, and had the waterer pushed right up to the edge of the plate. I also sprinkled food right along the edge so they could stay under the plate if they chose.

This photo is from a couple of hours after arrival. You can see they were not bothered at all by the lack of a heat lamp.