Brooder Plate Issues

[EmmZ95]

Hey! So my name is Emily and I am BRAND new to chickens, but I'm super excited. I read a bunch of reviews on here about how brooder played are better than a heat lamp so I went ahead and bought one. I ended up going with the Brinsea EcoGlow Safety 600. When it arrived I plugged it in to test it out. I came back to it about an hour later and it isn't very hot. It is definitely working because when I touch the plate with my hand it is hot to the touch but not as hot as i would have thought it would be. The temperature is not adjustable you just raise or lower the plate depending on the chicks actions. Does anyone else have this plate or a similar one? Is it working correctly? Thank you!

 

[Steven Bussell]

It is meant to heat up only from under meant it... The chicks well go under it. That's why it's important to have the front a little higher than the back. Adjust the height as they grow.
Im using a plate as well... Sometime they go under it...sometimes they hang out around the outside of it ...
I have a heat lamp on stand by just in case my plate were to fail.

 

[kindergarten_chick]

Mine does not really feel hot unless I leave my hand on it, but the chicks have loved it, and there's just no worry about fire, which is awesome.

 

[TomZilla43]

Hiya Emily, . The brooder plate is designed to keep them warmer than the outside temp(If they are very young chicks:95ish degrees). So it sounds like to me that your plate is probably working fine. You can observe the chicks and if they are staying huddled up under there ALL the time then you perhaps have an issue. But it they are up under the plate some but also getting out to eat and drink and run around and seem like they are for the most part happy chickies I'd say you've got them set up like they need to be. Hope all goes well with your new flock, and glad you could join our lil chicken crazy group.

 

[TomZilla43]

P.S. Emily, what you read about it being a better way to raise chicks is very true. I actually used a MHP(Mama heating Pad) to brood mine but that's just pretty much a home made brooder plate contraption made with a heating pad. The beauty of this way of brooding over heat lamps is 1st of all safety, and also w/o a bright light shining down on them all the time they get to experience true day/night cycle and know when to sleep and when to be up playing chicken gms. It's much closer to what they would experience if they had an actual broody hen caring for them.