Black bulbs don't work for heating??

[Little Byrd]

The cheapest heating pad for chicks I can find online is $43. Where did you find one for $26? I'm still going to try using the heater since I have 2 of them already, but if it doesn't work out with the chicks, I'm considering heat pads as another option.

 

[Blooie]

Walmart, Walgreens, many CVS pharmacies. All you have to make sure of is that it doesn't turn off automatically after 2 hours.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

IME my chicks would be cooked with a 250W bulb. I think that is an issue for a lot of people using rubber totes as well. I find 75W more than sufficient, and saves electricity as well, though I don't use a dimmer and instead just adjust the height. I usually have mine off of heat by 4-5 weeks.

For a rubber tote...I agree you can get by with a good light bulb. but my brooder is 8 feet long and thermostatically controlled system. But as far as cooking them (lamp on all day long) you adjust the height of the lamp and test the temps at chick level..

2 weeks and mine are already off the heat, only at night as the temps are still kind of cool. As of now, anything below 65/f and the light/heat comes on and its about 10 inches off the base.

If the birds get too hot, they can always move away from the heat as I dont have it pointed directly down at them, but I can brooder in 20/f degree weather if I had too.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but if it falls face down onto the floor it turns off, if I throw a blanket over it it turns off, or if the room gets too hot it turns off. Maybe it has heat sensors that turn it off and not necessarily sensors that detect its position.

Edit: It doesn't turn off when I set it on the grate though.

due to all the house fires in the winter, most heaters are designed with two safety features (overheat temp switch and a mechanical trip switch).

Over heat trip (IS SUPPOSE TO OCCUR) if the front of the heater is blocked, the blockage of air flow causes the heat to reflect back (or slows the heaters air flow) thus causing the heater to over heat the sensor....otherwise it could keep heating and possibly melt and cause a fire or electrical fire as the wires melt.

Mecanical trip- is usually just a weight on the end of an arm/lever which hangs down and controlled by gravity, but it is connected to a internal switch. Once the heater turns over past a certain degree of angle, the weighted arm swings and causes the electrical current to disconnect through an internal switch which shuts the unit down. no electricity no heat.

There are more types of safety's of different design but those two are the most common in the cheaper heaters..


I tried the heater one time (on a thermostat) but it scared the birds every time it came on, then some would always try to go right up to the heat or crowd in front of the heat. The brooder seemed harder to regulate with the heater, so I went back to a heat lamp.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

My walk-in closet is their brooder, so couldn't I leave the door open so as not to let the whole space heat up? It would only be at night. I decided to skip the fancy red or black bulbs and use a regular heat bulb that I know works, but I definitely need a way to give them a break from the light at night. Last time I had quail chicks, the 24/7 bright light drove them crazy and they started killing and eating each other. Once I looked in their brooder and found a dead chick with a leg missing, and then found the leg bone pecked clean on the other side of the brooder.... I definitely don't want to go through that again

Btw I just tried the heater for a few minutes, and I set the thermostat 12" below it. The temp peaked at 93 degrees from 12'' away on high. It seems like it might work

I know they are mean little critters, but are you sure that they were getting enough high protein feed, if not then they start to attack each other...... In my first attempts I tried and kept a light on 24/7 (minus the daylight hours) and never had that problem. Birds sleep all the time during the day and with a light on night, so I would think it would be some other cause.....lack of protein or maybe even a mouse getting in and getting a free meal.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

The cheapest heating pad for chicks I can find online is $43. Where did you find one for $26? I'm still going to try using the heater since I have 2 of them already, but if it doesn't work out with the chicks, I'm considering heat pads as another option.

They are $13 each. I get them at Walmart.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

For a rubber tote...I agree you can get by with a good light bulb. but my brooder is 8 feet long and thermostatically controlled system. But as far as cooking them (lamp on all day long) you adjust the height of the lamp and test the temps at chick level..

2 weeks and mine are already off the heat, only at night as the temps are still kind of cool. As of now, anything below 65/f and the light/heat comes on and its about 10 inches off the base.

If the birds get too hot, they can always move away from the heat as I dont have it pointed directly down at them, but I can brooder in 20/f degree weather if I had too.

Ah OK it must be warmer where you are. My brooder is a 6x3 coop addition. Up until this week nights were in the 20s and days flip flopping between 30s to 50s for the most part. Obviously in summer they wean themselves from the heat sooner. They are sleeping on to of heating pad rather than under it now. I have some three week old there now and a few that are feathering slow though so I'm going to leave it for now.

 

[AuQuail]

My black bulbs are Fine. I have 75w, 100w, 150w and 200w.

Small batch hatching I use 75w. This time with 65 quails I use the 100w.

I made me. Own shield with a s/s bowl. So far works a. Treat,. I got a Thermostat with sensor on the floor directly under the lamp, and I raise the lamp as the chick grow..

Don't. Expect it to heat the whole brooder box etc.. It's a. Hot spot.. Directly. Under then cooler as u go out. Keep a lid on your and she will. Be fine.

I had to put on my 200w in an emergency when the chicks spilt. The water..... All got wet, soaked!! and shivering under the lamp when I got to them.... 200w in 7 mins they were dry and fluffy.

200w = roast baby quails hehehehe....

I have only used these lamps.. So far happy with them.



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[gpop1]

I got my black heat bulb off eBay, and idk what a "heat shield" is. The bulbs are in regular heat lamps.

ebay you say. Problem you say. heat bulb made in china you say.

Read the small print on the bulb and see if its rated for 220v if so it will work on 110v but its not going to put out the stated 75watts of heat. (been there done that)

cheap heat pad cave with a piece of wire mesh for support works great just add a small led light over the feed or the chicks will stay in the warm and stave to death. (been there done that as well)

 

[Blooie]

ebay you say. Problem you say. heat bulb made in china you say.

Read the small print on the bulb and see if its rated for 220v if so it will work on 110v but its not going to put out the stated 75watts of heat. (been there done that)

cheap heat pad cave with a piece of wire mesh for support works great just add a small led light over the feed or the chicks will stay in the warm and stave to death. (been there done that as well)

My goodness! I've raised 6 batches - 7th is on it's way - under MHP and never used a light at all for anything. They are brooded outdoors in the run, where when the sun goes down they go to bed, and when the sun comes up they are back exploring, eating, drinking, and learning. It's not warm here in the spring when it's "chick season" .....our temps often drop down into the teens and twenties with sideways blowing snow. Never once have I had a chick prefer to stay under MHP to the point where it would not eat, and neither has anyone else who is doing this. So I'm just a little confused.....