Brooder temp 95 or heat lamp 18 inches which one do I go with??

[getaclue]

Mountain, if you must go with the 250 watt instead of a couple 100 watt bulbs, be sure the fixture is ceramic. Far too many fires have resulted from the fixtures overheating. Make sure the bulb you use is not coated. The teflon type coated bulbs give off fumes that will kill the chicks.

I built a pvc pole to hold the fixture, with a hook for the chain, so I can secure it with both the chain, and the clamp. That way I can raise the lamp weekly, to reduce the heat.

 

[jreardon1918]

Last year was or first year with chicks. We started with a plastic tub and a heat lamp. We had a few chicks die. I think they were over heated. And developed pasty butt. After a week we switched to a very large cardboard box. Actually two connected. Anyway when we relaxed a bit on the heat, the chicks did better. Good luck.


Next time we have chicks. MHP out in the coop/ run.

 

[Folly's place]

Hufflefluff was right on with good advice. The heat lamp needs to be at one side of the brooder, so it's about 95F under it, and cooler elsewhere. The feeders and waterers should be outside of the hottest area, but not far away either.
I always test my brooder before the chicks arrive, with a thermometer under the heat lamp. It's all 'fine tuned' for a few days before chicks are in it.
How many chicks are you getting? What kinds?
You didn't mention a brooder cover. Hardware cloth is best, over the whole thing. Chicks will be escaping soon otherwise, and if you have pets, they need to be out.
Your spare bedroom will be a mess in no time! How about brooding in a attached garage, if possible? Or right in the coop?
I do like the brooder plates, but you will do fine with a carefully secured heat lamp!
Check the mill dates on every bag of feed; old stuff is junk. It should be within four weeks if at all possible.
Mary

 

[K813ZRA]

You can get a dimmer cord and not worry about the height at all.

 

[MountainFireflyAcres]

Hufflefluff was right on with good advice. The heat lamp needs to be at one side of the brooder, so it's about 95F under it, and cooler elsewhere. The feeders and waterers should be outside of the hottest area, but not far away either.
I always test my brooder before the chicks arrive, with a thermometer under the heat lamp. It's all 'fine tuned' for a few days before chicks are in it.
How many chicks are you getting? What kinds?
You didn't mention a brooder cover. Hardware cloth is best, over the whole thing. Chicks will be escaping soon otherwise, and if you have pets, they need to be out.
Your spare bedroom will be a mess in no time! How about brooding in a attached garage, if possible? Or right in the coop?
I do like the brooder plates, but you will do fine with a carefully secured heat lamp!
Check the mill dates on every bag of feed; old stuff is junk. It should be within four weeks if at all possible.
Mary

I am getting an array of breeds straight run from Sand Hill Preservation Center. I could not pin down one breed that met my wishes of a good broody, winter laying, cold hardy dual purpose forager so I am having a chicken breed "Super Bowl of the closest matches to allow me to decide which one or two breeds to stick with after this.

The breeds arriving are Buckeye, Delaware, Dominique, New Hampshire , Rose Comb Rhode Island Red, Partridge Chantecler , Red Chantecler, Australorp, Speckled Sussex, Dorkings, Welsummer, and lastely black copper marrans, between 3-6 of each of those breeds each ending up with a total of 50. With most of the males that arrive being culled for meat after weighing them in to see which breeds put on the fastest weight compared to each other. should leave me with around 25ish after that.

The brooder has hardware cloth half inch spacing I believe on it, well secured. It is in 3 sections, end sections swing out with the use of hinges on each end and the middle section swings upwards and away. I really wanted to make it very secure because I have 2 young kids and a fun but annoying at times Doberman that I'm sure will be extremely curious of it so just incase the door is not locked and they all make it in the room the chicks still have a chance lol. I built the thing very sturdy and the kids have been climbing over the the brooder since day one climbing over the walls and such before I put the cloth on so I know it should hold up to abuse as long as the dog dosnt decide to jump on top of it lol! Yea its a crazy house over here.....

 

[aart]

Oh, with 50 chicks, a heat plate of MHP won't do.
I'd stick with the lamp, and as previously suggested, a dimmer cord can solve the height issues.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.


The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[Blooie]

Agreed....50 may be too much for MHP to handle.

 

[MountainFireflyAcres]

Oh, with 50 chicks, a heat plate of MHP won't do.
I'd stick with the lamp, and as previously suggested, a dimmer cord can solve the height issues.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.


The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

Awesome information here, thank you very much Aart for being a meticulous note taker! With this and the other reply's all agreeing with the same info of 90 degrees directly under the brooder I feel confident now that the chicks will be happy with their initial introduction to the brooder next month!
As well as all the additional notes you took will be very helpful and I'm sure I will be referring back to it if I have any questions. This fast and precise information from you and everyone makes me glad I decided to Join BYC and post my question. Hopefully someone scratching their head with this same question runs into these responses as well!

 

[MountainFireflyAcres]

This is a picture of the brooder at 90 percent completion. still lacks the third safety cord but shows the clamp and hanging wire attachment. As stated in a previous response, the top is covered in wire mesh and those top divides open from side to side by the hinges you can barely notice on the side, all in all I am very pleased with this first attempt!
The munchkin in the photo ensured it was well constructed and sturdy during his scaling the walls in and out of the brooder before the wire was added lol.

 

[Folly's place]

For fifty chicks, plan on two feeders and waterers, spaced apart, so everyone has a spot, whenever they want.
Nice breed selection! This will be a fun group.
Pictures!
Mary