Brooder/heat lamp issues

[sylviethecochin]

Dang it, where do you live? It has been way too hot here!I have the front doors open to my coop because it gets so hot and I am waiting for it to cool down before I close the front doors, usually 9:30 pm. The front opening has hardware cloth over it, so the predators can’t get in.

Central PA. To be fair, the frost wasn't everywhere, just in a few spots, with a supposed low of mid-forties. I think all the groundwater (it keeps raining) is sucking the heat out of the air and making it colder near the earth. It's only a low of sixty-three tonight.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Central PA. To be fair, the frost wasn't everywhere, just in a few spots, with a supposed low of mid-forties. I think all the groundwater (it keeps raining) is sucking the heat out of the air and making it colder near the earth. It's only a low of sixty-three tonight.

I wish it would rain here, so I wouldn’t have to water!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I wish it would rain here, so I wouldn’t have to water!

I wish it wouldn't rain here so that I wouldn't have to spray anti-fungal stuff on every plant I've got. (The poor, poor tomatoes...) If you send me yours, I'll send you mine.

 

[slordaz]

I use just a regular 60 watt bulb and they are a lot happier with that than the brooder lights

 

[Lizzy733]

What's the wattage and what type of bulb? Red bulbs can get extremely hot and are not the best heatsource unless you 'really' need to warm an area - even then, lower wattage is usually suitable. I'd recommend a low watt ceramic (75w - is probably suitable for a room with AC). Ceramics take a while to heat up and should not be in an area where your chicks can accidentally come into contact with the bulb as they will be burned. Heat cages are really good at keeping this from happening.
Check your hot spot to see how hot it is... if your chicks are panting, you need to cool your setup down quickly. Spot IR thermometers and probes are the best for finding out temps on the fly - the kind used for reptiles or brewing are quite cheap as well.

 

[Shezadandy]

You can also make an MHP (momma heating pad) - if you've got a heating pad that will stay on 24/7, you can get them used to it being dark all night and they're tucked in nice and cozy like under a broody hen- during the day they go in, warm up, come back out and so on. Mine is a heating pad wrapped in an old pillow case, then sandwiched between 2 of those racks you'd screw into a kitchen cabinet to hold foil, wax paper etc., then a hand towel goes on top. The "bottom" is bent out at about 45 degrees so chicks wanting more heat can go all the way to the back where it's warmest.

 

[AquaDuck]

The general rule with heat lamps is that the birds should spend the time in the radius around the heating area. If they're laying directly under it, it's too cold. If they're always in the furthest away corner, it's too hot.

Agree with the other suggestions of ceramic bulbs and mama heating pads. Both safer and better options than the regular IR bulb.

 

[oldhen2345]

Summer? September?

Okay, I'm moving south.

You might want to rethink that- it is 95 degrees here in Texas. As for the brooder, a reptile light should work. Personally, I like the Mama Cave idea and have used it successfully for a few years.

 

[Birdinhand]

I would highly recommend going with a mother heating pad (MHP), those heat lamps lead to a variety of challenges, IMHO, overheating being one of them. here is one of the main threads on making and using MHP's: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/ for me the MHP is revolutionary and I would never consider going back to heat lamps. the main downsides of heat lamps are: 1) overheating 2) fire and burn hazard 3) energy hog/high cost of use 4) they burn out unpredictably. 5) even a red reptile bulb keeps the chicks from having a normal day and night cycle. the pros of an MHP: 1) normal day and night light cycle 2) much more energy efficient 3) low/no burn hazard 4) the chicks have more control over their own temperature, running in when they are cold, out when they are too warm, just like they do with a mother hen. 5) they don't burn out like light bulbs.

overall I find that disease is less and overall chick health and happiness is better with an MHP.

 

[Duck_life]

I wish it wouldn't rain here so that I wouldn't have to spray anti-fungal stuff on every plant I've got. (The poor, poor tomatoes...) If you send me yours, I'll send you mine.

Oh wow that sucks... I hadn't got any frost the other night. But it had been down in the 60's!