Brooder plate vs heat lamp - larger brood

[Artscape68]

I recently got a larger order of chicks shipped to me. I made a mistake in using a brooder plate that was too small.. I should have used a heat lamp (which I switched to right away for the first week) but I lost a couple of chicks due to smothering the others underneath. My mistake, I am learning... but I also wanted to tell my story in case someone else does this. If the brooder is smaller without the open sides ... they can get trapped and smothered by their flock mates. Now that they are a week old, I have a large open sided brooder plate and no more issues.. but I was so sad to lose the babies I did. Hard mistake. Won't make that one again. I know Cackle Hatchery doesn't recommend a brooder plate right away due to some of these issues. They are right for sure if you have a larger order.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

To be fair, you still have this risk when you have too many chicks together in any situation. Even with a heat lamp.
They can pile on each other, and the ones at the bottom of the heap can die for various reasons. Especially if they're smaller or weaker.

Any animal that might pile on each other for warmth or comfort, or crush together in panic, can result in the trapped ones dying.

 

[Artscape68]

To be fair, you still have this risk when you have too many chicks together in any situation. Even with a heat lamp.
They can pile on each other, and the ones at the bottom of the heap can die for various reasons. Especially if they're smaller or weaker.

Any animal that might pile on each other for warmth or comfort, or crush together in panic, can result in the trapped ones dying.

Understood. I had 15 which is pretty large. I won't order that many again. We have the space.. very large coop. It would have been smarter to do them in smaller batches.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Understood. I had 15 which is pretty large. I won't order that many again. We have the space.. very large coop. It would have been smarter to do them in smaller batches.

You can do a brood of 15, it isn't too big. Many people have significantly larger broods of chicks in one area. As long as you have the space for it and adequate heat sources + space for each chicken to get under said heat then go ahead for a large brood. I've done bigger and they've been fine.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Understood. I had 15 which is pretty large. I won't order that many again. We have the space.. very large coop. It would have been smarter to do them in batches.

Ahh okay
My perception of what makes a large number of chicks is skewed, since we would usually have 30+ at a time.

There are definitely downsides to heat plates. They're advertised as being able to accommodate more chicks than they realistically can. Since the chicks grow, and the plates don't.

I ordered 15 chicks, which ended as 14 when one didn't thrive.
I started them with a Brinsea 1200? That can handle them for about 2 weeks, maybe 3.
I got them a tractor supply/producer's pride plate (mixed feelings on it. Poor design. You have to cover the holes) and that got them through the last few weeks until they didn't need supplemental heat.
But, half of them slept on top of it.
So realistically, based on observation of my chicks, it can only handle about 7 chicks up to about 6 weeks, if it's tall enough for them.

I'm hoping my flock has a few good broodies (a couple are setting right now) so they can handle all the chicks and all the heat plates and lamps will be emergency backup.

(Edit to correct autocorrect)

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

K I didn't know that just typing a brand would link you to websites...

just fyi, I'm not recommending anybody buy anything or click anything that was in my reply above.

I only mentioned those brands because it gives more context to the size of plates with the number of chicks I had...

 

[Artscape68]

You can do a brood of 15, it isn't too big. Many people have significantly larger broods of chicks in one area. As long as you have the space for it and adequate heat sources + space for each chicken to get under said heat then go ahead for a large brood. I've done bigger and they've been fine.

I had a smaller brooder plate.. which has the feet on the sides. I now am using one from Rent A Coop that has four legs open on the sides so they all can spread out. I lost two to suffocation.

 

[Artscape68]

You can do a brood of 15, it isn't too big. Many people have significantly larger broods of chicks in one area. As long as you have the space for it and adequate heat sources + space for each chicken to get under said heat then go ahead for a large brood. I've done bigger and they've been fine.

I think it would have been better since they were shipped to maybe do the heat lamp for a couple of days and then a large wide open sided brooder plate. The ones I found that died were definitely smooshed/smothered. Sad.. but it's farming..and new ownership learning too. I have had other animals all my life but not lots of chicks. LOL I fixed it quicky and had no more losses. All doing well now.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Depending on the brooder plate, you might be able to find a way to hang it above them, so there are no sides/legs.

There's also something I ended up not buying, a brand called "sweeter heater".
I've never used it. I opted for a heat plate for my purposes. (And I forgot sweeter heater existed until after I got my heat plate).

Maybe somebody will have some info on it, if it's any good. And then that could be a better direction for some people.