Brooder lamps

[needlessjunk]

I'm getting a shipment of ducklings the first week of Dec and I need to set up my brooder. My current ducks were 2 weeks old when I got them and it was the middle of summer and 90 degrees was the low. Totally different ball game now! Anyway I was looking at brooder lamps and the ones at TSC and Walmart are all the same and seem super flimsy and frankly scare me. I was thinking of going with the reptile ones that are a bit heavier but it's 5 1/2 inches in diameter. Will that make a difference? They both have ceramic sockets. I picked up a 75w infrared bulb on clearance at pet smart to go in it. It's only 4 ducklings and they are going in a large kiddy pool. I don't see the lamp getting much after these guys or rather girls. They are also the same price. So I guess does a 10 inch vs a 5 1/2 inch diameter lamp make a difference? I posted this is the raising chicks area as well since I figured they would know about brooders

 

[btguy]

The bulb is what makes the difference power wise, that 10' will handle a 250 watt bulb, read on the reptile one what power it will handle. That said you don't actually need 250 watts. The more power it has the larger the area it will warm (and the further up you will have to place it) unless you have a lot of ducks the reptile one should be fine but I might look at a brooder heating plate here on byc. They are more expensive up front but use 1/3 the power and don't need new bulbs and best dont produce light


https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/ecoglow-20-chick-brooder/reviews/8986

 

[needlessjunk]

The bulb is what makes the difference power wise, that 10' will handle a 250 watt bulb, read on the reptile one what power it will handle. That said you don't actually need 250 watts. The more power it has the larger the area it will warm (and the further up you will have to place it) unless you have a lot of ducks the reptile one should be fine but I might look at a brooder heating plate here on byc. They are more expensive up front but use 1/3 the power and don't need new bulbs and best dont produce light


https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/ecoglow-20-chick-brooder/reviews/8986

Thank you, that is helpful. It's 4 ducklings and bulb I have is 75 watt infrared. Will that be strong enough? I would love one of those plates but I can't justified the price to my husband for something that wouldnt be used more than twice at a max.

 

[btguy]

That should do it just make sure the babies can't touch it. Use a thermometer to check the temp at their level and adjust lamp hight till u get the right temp

And I understand about the lack of further use. I am pawning off my incubation and baby warming on one of my poor hens

 

[Amiga]

Before our ducklings arrived I tested the heat lamp setup. I used one light bulb and two ceramic heater bulbs (no light - for reptiles). I could get the brooder to 90˚F with that. I used a non-mercury thermometer (metal coil) to be sure of the temperature.

To keep the ducklings safe, I used half inch metal hardware cloth across the top of the brooder. I bent the sides down about two inches. That made the hardware cloth stiff enough to safely support the three lamps.

Now, the rest of the story.

Once the duckings arrived, the bedding stayed quite moist (water management is key - and I had a lot to learn). The moist bedding dropped the temperature in the brooder to 80F - that was as high as it would go. So I got another ceramic lamp.

The advantage of multiple lamps is that I could adjust the brooder temperature. I had, I think, two 60 W and two 30 W bulbs.

A friend of mine had nothing between the heat lamp (light bulb) and her ducklings and although the bulb was far enough away that the ducklings could not touch it, it got splashed with water and shattered.

That is another reason I like the hardware cloth - if the bulb goes, there is less that will reach the brooder. There may be other safety features folks here have developed as well.