Brinsea EcoGlow NOT warm enough for chicks!

[ncmtngal]

I received 40 chicks in the mail Sunday. Put half in a brooder with the Brinsea EcoGlow chick warmer and they started dropping like flies. The other half in the "traditional" brooder with heat lamp are doing ok. I've been brooding chicks for many years and have never had a mass die-out like this.

 

[silkiechicken]

Did you check the temp under the eco glow before you added chicks?

I could imagine if the ambient temps are low, an eco glow might not be warm enough. I use a 40W bulb inside the house and have to dim it because it gets too hot, but I've put 200W for the same number of chicks in a shed outside if it's snowing just to keep the temps at 90+ at the hot spot.

 

[ggarratt]

Just a thought... is your EcoGlow on the lowest height setting so they can press their little backs up against it? I've found that it's not as effective if it's too high up for them to touch. What temperature is the room you have them in? I used the EcoGlow for 5 hatches last year and never had a problem with it. But I also only used it when I was brooding them in my 60+ degree living room.

I'm sorry you're losing so many chicks!

 

[GA_in_GA]

Sorry for your chick loss. Poor little things.

Is it the larger Ecoglow and on the lowest height setting, and also in an area with ambient temps above 50 degrees F?

The small one is not for large number of chicks. And Brinsea says their Ecoglow is not effective if the temp is below 50. And I agree, the height must be adjusted for the size of the chicks.

 

[featherz]

I have used ecoglows for over a dozen sets of chicks and have never even lost one. I think the ambient temp may have been too low? I have them in a room that never goes below 50. The ecoglow should be on the lowest setting for new chicks, as others have said. I have both the 20 and the 50 and use either depending on how many chicks I have. It was not meant to be used in a room that is less than 50, but I can vouch for it working fine in a room that's 55-60, as that's what I keep my house heat set to.

 

[ncmtngal]

Thanks for your responses. Yes, the unit is at the lowest possilbe setting. And the ambient temp in the brooder room is set at 62 degrees. I'm at a loss for possible reasons this happened.

 

[gryeyes]

Although I do use my EcoGlows in the coop, where it (currently) has been getting down to about 40 degrees at night, I didn't put the chicks out there with it until they were three weeks old. Prior to that age, they stay in the house with an EcoGlow and I have not lost ANY chicks at either location. The coop unit is in deep litter and set so there is a low side and a higher side, so the chicks can snuggle together in the pine shavings under it.

I am so very sorry to read you have lost chicks using it.

 

[off-grid hen]

Does the unit feel warm when you put your hand underneath it? Have the chicks had water? Just trying to figure out what's going wrong here... I also have an ecoglow and it worked fine for my chicks. Are they cheeping loudly in distress?

 

[featherz]

If it IS the ecoglow, the only thing I can think of is that it's defective. I've had healthier chicks since I stopped using a heat lamp. No pasty butt and they get to sleep at night. I love my ecoglow (s). Only complaint I have is that the 20 is really small for 20 chicks after about a week or so. (so now I have a 50!).

 

[yinepu]

I had a defective eco glow .. mine had frayed wires

i think I'll stick with my regular 60 watt and 40 watt bulbs