Brooder questions/brooder plate?

[Wannabe_homesteader]

Hi all! Ive just placed my first order of baby chicks and im so excited! I currently do have several hens and a rooster. Im planning on redoing the coop and was thinking of making the brooder in the coop...will they be warm enough? I will be getting them the first week of may. I was planning to buy a brooder plate instead of using a heat lamp.

Any thoughts on brooder plates vs heat lamps or tips for using the plate? Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've used both. I much prefer the brooder plate. I use the Premier 1 brand.
I used to use homemade Ohio brooders with 2 heat lamps permanently mounted under both ends. I did the math after some encouragement and discovered the heat plate would be paid for by the savings in electrical cost in just one brooding.
Heat lamps (or more accurately ceramic heat emitters) still have their uses here but IMHO for strictly brooding a batch of chicks, the Premier 1 heat plate is the way to go.

 

[Relleoms]

Yep, I agree the Premier1 heat plate is the way to go (buy the adjustable temperature controller, too). I brooded in my coop last spring with many nights below freezing & it worked great. I created a huddle box with the heat plate inside to block drafts.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi all! Ive just placed my first order of baby chicks and im so excited! I currently do have several hens and a rooster. Im planning on redoing the coop and was thinking of making the brooder in the coop...will they be warm enough? I will be getting them the first week of may. I was planning to buy a brooder plate instead of using a heat lamp.

Any thoughts on brooder plates vs heat lamps or tips for using the plate? Thanks!

Yes, they will be warm enough with a brooder plate in a built-in brooder in the coop. I raised my last batch of 15 chicks in my built-in brooder using a brooder plate with a towel over it. The lowest temp they experienced during their need for supplemental heat period was 21F. They positively thrived out there.
And then there's the added benefit of being raised in full view of the adult flock. I began integration when they were 4 weeks old. They were fully roosting with the bigs by 7 weeks old.

 

[Folly's place]

Set up the brooder plate ahead of time, with the temperature regulator, and check the temps on the plate underside. I turned it upside down, and rested a thermometer right on the plate, center, and then near the edges. My plate was too hot at first (120F), too hot to keep in contact, so with the temp controller, I was able to get it down to a comfortable temperature to the touch.
Some plates seem to be fine without modifying the temperature setting, and some aren't.
Mary

 

[ChickNanny13]

I switched from a heat light to heating pad after reading Blooie's thread on the MHP. Love it and so much better adjusted chicks than when using the heat light.

 

[Wannabe_homesteader]

Yep, I agree the Premier1 heat plate is the way to go (buy the adjustable temperature controller, too). I brooded in my coop last spring with many nights below freezing & it worked great. I created a huddle box with the heat plate inside to block drafts.

Thank you for the info! Where do i find the temp controller? I haven't been able to find it searching online

 

[Folly's place]

Premier has the temperature controller, right with their brooder plates.
Mary

 

[Relleoms]

Thank you for the info! Where do i find the temp controller? I haven't been able to find it searching online

Here it is! They have a note about it further down the page of the plates!
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heating-plate-temperature-controller

 

[Relleoms]

I had a couple chicks get burned on their backs last year (superficial, they’re ok) and when I contacted premier 1, they told me “I like to set the plate even at both ends. If it is too low at one end the birds can push and pack each other into the low side causing some of them to be too tight against the hot part of the plate. Any time you see over heated feathers I would raise the plate a little.”
I had the back side a bit lower than the front (like recommended with the heating pad method) and I didn’t test the temperature of my plate. I also didn’t have the switch, otherwise I would have lowered the temp a tad. But like another user commented, my babies were roosting with the older flock at 5.5 weeks, so it’s totally worth it to me!