Bad Experience Brooding with Ceramic Heat Lamp

[aart]

I think a hover is the best way to do a lot of chicks in a cold outside environment.

I've got 16 in lockdown, couldn't see during candle very well, especially the 6 green eggs...but I've had 3 for sure large and moving on day 18.....so we'll see what we see after another couple days. I've got mixed mutts of the lt brahma/wyandotte/cochin sorts under a dk brahma mutt roo and the 6 EE's and some other unknown mutts under the EE roo.

 

[my sunwolf]

I think a hover is the best way to do a lot of chicks in a cold outside environment.

x2!

I've got 16 in lockdown, couldn't see during candle very well, especially the 6 green eggs...but I've had 3 for sure large and moving on day 18.....so we'll see what we see after another couple days. I've got mixed mutts of the lt brahma/wyandotte/cochin sorts under a dk brahma mutt roo and the 6 EE's and some other unknown mutts under the EE roo.

Someone once told me that the reason you didn't have blue or green eggs in the grocery was because they are so hard to candle and therefore couldn't be graded for industrial markets. Incubation has always been sort of a toss-up for me. You'll have to get a thread for baby pics, I love looking at EE chicks

 

[my sunwolf]

Much better luck the last few days, I think the hover with two 250W bulbs is working!!

 

[my sunwolf]

Here's the hover in action:



Hard to see, but there are some babies lounging in the sun on the left side. They are loving it

Had to use one of the bales of straw from the top, but the remaining bale is doing a good job insulating. Just the heavy-duty wood I used does a nice job insulating by itself. You can't see the second lamp in this photo, but it is on the opposite side. I would say that one of these is absolutely necessary if you're going to brood large numbers of chicks in a cold barn. This one is 3.5' x 3.5', so it can hold about 100-150 chicks. The barn is 10' x 10' so can fit about 100 birds until they are 3-4 weeks and can go outside. When they are very young (first week), I set up a cardboard barrier so that they can't go too far from the heat source. The red light draws them under the box, and then their instincts help them use the box as if it was their very large mother hen. I'm so happy for the babies!

 

[TheChickInn]

I love my Premeir Heat lamps! Any heat lamp poses a potential fire danger- these are the safest I have found. I also use a chain to make sure they don't get knocked down accidentally.

 

[my sunwolf]

I love my Premeir Heat lamps! Any heat lamp poses a potential fire danger- these are the safest I have found. I also use a chain to make sure they don't get knocked down accidentally.

Ooh, do you mean these? They look really nice. It concerns me that the top rate wattage is 250--meaning that if I used a 250W bulb in the fixture, it might be pushing it? And don't like that a lot of the parts look plastic, I prefer metal around hot bulbs, though looks like it might be a stronger material on the interior. Very interesting.

I was also curious to see if the type of bulb made a difference, or if the red 250W heat bulbs are all just as likely to light something on fire.

Probably still not warm enough for all the chicks in all the cold, but definitely something neat for fewer chicks.

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah, this is essentially what I realized during my HUGE mistakes! I understand now how they use so little electricity...

I'm very interested in the "sweeter heater," which looks like it has much more power than the CHE or the plate (like Brinsea's), but I also like the idea of the hover brooder as I always prefer something that I can build myself. Of course, the fire hazard is still there with the application of the lights.

I also think a big difference is # of chicks. 100+ babies and cold temps, and the hanging lamp setup doesn't seem to work at all. I have done 100+ babies, and cold temps, but never both at once.

aart, what are you hatching and how many?

I'm wondering what you are using for the walls and floor of your brooder? There are ways to hold and increase the power of your heat source that can help you create a warm ambient situation even when it's 20* outside.

For instance, the last batch of meaties I did were 54 birds in an outside, open air hoop coop with one 250 heat lamp and had no issues whatsoever with piling because I had some good insulation on the floor of the brooder and the walls and then capped it off with something that would hold in the heat but could be moved to regulate airflow and heat. I had a warm end and a cool end and they made good use of both and hardened off quickly.

Here's the brooder....cheap, cheap, cheap. I placed a very thick piece of cardboard under the litter and a plywood topper on this brooder.

 

[TheChickInn]

Ooh, do you mean these? They look really nice. It concerns me that the top rate wattage is 250--meaning that if I used a 250W bulb in the fixture, it might be pushing it? And don't like that a lot of the parts look plastic, I prefer metal around hot bulbs, though looks like it might be a stronger material on the interior. Very interesting.

I was also curious to see if the type of bulb made a difference, or if the red 250W heat bulbs are all just as likely to light something on fire.

Probably still not warm enough for all the chicks in all the cold, but definitely something neat for fewer chicks.

Yes- that's it. I have used them for the past 2 years and have always used the 250 watt bulbs ( I do switch out to a 175 watt when the chicks are in the grow-out brooder). I have never had a problem with them. They are very well made as compared to the brooder lamps that can be purchased at most farm supply stores. I also buy the Premeir heat lamp bulbs- they last much longer and I have never had one become loose.

 

[Tappy4me]

Yes- that's it. I have used them for the past 2 years and have always used the 250 watt bulbs ( I do switch out to a 175 watt when the chicks are in the grow-out brooder). I have never had a problem with them. They are very well made as compared to the brooder lamps that can be purchased at most farm supply stores. I also buy the Premeir heat lamp bulbs- they last much longer and I have never had one become loose.

Wish I had browsed their site a bit more the other day! I think we will buy one of these next time, or one of their heat plates for the next go round with chicks.
I like the design of their lamp and stand much better than the farm supply store ones. They're cheap and work, but they worry me! haha

 

[my sunwolf]

I'm wondering what you are using for the walls and floor of your brooder? There are ways to hold and increase the power of your heat source that can help you create a warm ambient situation even when it's 20* outside.

For instance, the last batch of meaties I did were 54 birds in an outside, open air hoop coop with one 250 heat lamp and had no issues whatsoever with piling because I had some good insulation on the floor of the brooder and the walls and then capped it off with something that would hold in the heat but could be moved to regulate airflow and heat. I had a warm end and a cool end and they made good use of both and hardened off quickly.

Here's the brooder....cheap, cheap, cheap. I placed a very thick piece of cardboard under the litter and a plywood topper on this brooder.

Love this! This is the setup I usually use, minus any cardboard. Our brooder barn is a plyboard outbuilding and we use pine shavings and straw as bedding. This last time, I think the problem was the fact that I had one 250W and two 200W ceramic bulbs, and that was not warm enough for 125 birds. Then when I switched to two 250W bulbs, they were still not warm enough, even with thick shavings/straw combo and bales lining the brood space. We were down in the teens for a few nights as well, so that might have been way too cold. It was a good, healthy batch of Cornish, too.