Brinsea glow plate or red light?

[Hatcher1997]

hello,

I own both the glow plate and red lamp, I don’t like leaving the lamp on overnight just for peace of mind so I turn it off before I go to bed and turn the heat plate on for them. I find in the morning when I come down I notice they just stay under the glow plate and don’t get up to eat drink etc for very long, my livingroom is very much dark and doesn’t produce much sunlight in here, but I turn my main livingroom light on and then the red light, which they come out from under the glow plate and sit under the red light instead. So shall I keep to this routine to get them up in the morning? Or does the varying heat from the plate then the lamp, not allow them to wean off the heat properly because they both work quite differently? They have to rest their backs on the glow plate and it doesn’t produce heat to the ground, whereas the lamp does?

Thank you

 

[igorsMistress]

hello,

I own both the glow plate and red lamp, I don’t like leaving the lamp on overnight just for peace of mind so I turn it off before I go to bed and turn the heat plate on for them. I find in the morning when I come down I notice they just stay under the glow plate and don’t get up to eat drink etc for very long, my livingroom is very much dark and doesn’t produce much sunlight in here, but I turn my main livingroom light on and then the red light, which they come out from under the glow plate and sit under the red light instead. So shall I keep to this routine to get them up in the morning? Or does the varying heat from the plate then the lamp, not allow them to wean off the heat properly because they both work quite differently? They have to rest their backs on the glow plate and it doesn’t produce heat to the ground, whereas the lamp does?

Thank you

I use only the heat plate and provide no extra heat. My chicks brood outside and it was cold at night/early mornings. This is what they’d deal with if they had a mom raising them, and what their life will be like from now on, they might as well get used to it from the start.

 

[NatJ]

You didn't say how old they are, but their behavior might change as they grow older.

Switching back and forth is probably not harmful, but sounds to me like more bother than it is worth.

Since you do not want to run the heat lamp at night, I would just leave the heat plate on all day and all night.

If you want extra light to help them get up in the morning, you could put a normal light bulb in the heat lamp fixture, and turn it on in the morning.

 

[Hatcher1997]

You didn't say how old they are, but their behavior might change as they grow older.

Switching back and forth is probably not harmful, but sounds to me like more bother than it is worth.

Since you do not want to run the heat lamp at night, I would just leave the heat plate on all day and all night.

If you want extra light to help them get up in the morning, you could put a normal light bulb in the heat lamp fixture, and turn it on in the morning.

4 and 5 days old. It’s only a case of turning one switch off and one switch on. But I’m just confused how to wean them off heat if they’re under the glow at night and lamp in the day? They didn’t come out from the glow plate today until I turned the lamp on, and now they’re just sleeping under it. I’ve only seen them eat and drink once today. Haven’t been jumping or running around. I’m not sure if chicks are suppose to wake themselves up when they see daylight or not

 

[NatJ]

They didn’t come out from the glow plate today until I turned the lamp on, and now they’re just sleeping under it. I’ve only seen them eat and drink once today. Haven’t been jumping or running around. I’m not sure if chicks are suppose to wake themselves up when they see daylight or not

It is fine for them to sleep a lot, as long as they are also getting enough to eat. Full crops are a good sign of enough food.

Chicks often do fine with light all the time (heat lamp.) They also do fine with light in the day and dark at night (broody hen, or heat plate.) For any system, they eventually get used to the day/night cycle, and start to wake up at the right time.

I have read of at least one person that offered both heat lamp and heat plate in a large brooder, and their chicks preferred the lamp. I have read of plenty of people that raise healthy chicks by either method, so yours would probably be fin either way.

I do not know for sure if the alternating system you are using will cause any trouble or not, but I would be strongly inclined to pick one heat device or the other and stick with it. Since you are not willing to run the lamp at night, that would suggest using the plate all the time. Even if the chicks "prefer" the lamp, they should do just fine with either one.

4 and 5 days old. It’s only a case of turning one switch off and one switch on. But I’m just confused how to wean them off heat if they’re under the glow at night and lamp in the day?

That age is a bit early to wean them off heat anyway.

As they get older and bigger, they usually want to spend more time away from the heat. So continuing what you are doing for now, and stopping the heat lamp sometime next week, would be one option.

 

[Stephine]

You probably have it all figured out by now, but for others who might be looking for advice later, two things:

1) the heat plate takes a long time to warm up, so you shouldn’t switch that one on and off (couldn’t tell if you did turn it off, but just in case)
2) I had young chicks disappear under the plate and not come out for hours during the day and the breeder told me they are too cold. They didn’t chirp, but apparently they couldn’t warm themselves up enough to come out to eat and drink. I ditched the plate and turned on a red lamp and they became active within minutes.
So it’s fine for them to sleep under the plate all night but they do need to be out and about a lot to eat and drink and explore (while taking frequent naps, too). So it’s good you turned on the lamp for them.
Just don’t turn of the plate during the day.