Can I use a plastic storage bin with my heat lamp?

[Chickenmeme]

Hi everyone I’m super new to this. Thank you for your help. I’m not loving the cardboard boxes and the chicks are getting bigger anyways. I’d really love to use a nice big plastic storage box but I’m afraid of the heat lamp attached to it. Any experience or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Can I do it? Here’s the lamp

I burnt some chicks once and I only use the heating pad system now! They love it and it won’t burn them. I got the idea from on here and someone has detailed instructions, I just don’t remember who it was. You can look for it. It’s sooooo much better I’m surprised someone hasn’t manufactured it to sell.

 

[SummerW]

Hi, I've been reading through this as I was planning to use a plastic bin when my quail hatch. I just wanted to make sure, a heat lamp is a special bulb that creates heat? It's not just heat created by the metal cone around the bulb? I was planning to use the metal around a regular light bulb to create some warmth. Would that be ok? Hope that makes some sense.

 

[aart]

Hi, I've been reading through this as I was planning to use a plastic bin when my quail hatch. I just wanted to make sure, a heat lamp is a special bulb that creates heat? It's not just heat created by the metal cone around the bulb? I was planning to use the metal around a regular light bulb to create some warmth. Would that be ok? Hope that makes some sense.

The shade(metal cone) just helps reflect and direct the heat downward.

There are heat bulbs made specifically for heating baby poultry, they are very hot. Too hot for a tote, IMO.
I use a 100W red incandescent reptile bulb.
What you use and how you use it depends on the variables of your set up,
how many birds, ambient temp, etc.

Here's some tips about chick heat:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-chick-heat-blurb.75619/

 

[GC-Raptor]

Incandescent bulbs used to light a room may be hard to come by in the U.S.A. Especially 40, 60, 75 and 100w.
Most replacements are LED. . They DON'T put out heat.

You can get Halogen bulbs, they DO put out heat and can be used in a reflector to concentrate heat downward.

Higher wattage = More heat.

You can still get Incandescent specialty bulbs, like the Red bulb for reptiles that @aart uses.
Whatever you get, don't exceed the maximum watts for the reflector.

This reflector has a plastic base and maximum watts are 150.
Halogen bulbs put out more heat per watt than incandescent, so go by the higher equivalent number.

The reflector I use for my brooder has a ceramic base and is rated for a maximum 300 watts.

GC

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

I use plastic bins, but never the cheap ones from dollar general or anything like that, always Sterilite 30, 35, and 50 gallon totes. I get away with the 250-watt bulb until about week 4 or 5, but I have an old kitchen table that I clamp the lights to, so the light points straight down and they have plenty of space to get away from it. At about week 4 I start to wean them off of the light, usually only leaving it on at night, and week 5 I have them completely off of it. That is if I stick with the 250 all the way through. If I switch to 175 then I use that for week 4 and shut it off for week 5 and they go out all day week 6, then fully outside by week 7... weather permitting. Not once have I had problems with frying chicks or anything like that, and I've always brooded this way, so at least 20-30 sets of chicks have survived just fine this way for me.

 

[SummerW]

Incandescent bulbs used to light a room may be hard to come by in the U.S.A. Especially 40, 60, 75 and 100w.
Most replacements are LED.View attachment 2125014 . They DON'T put out heat.

You can get Halogen bulbs, they DO put out heat and can be used in a reflector to concentrate heat downward. View attachment 2125011
Higher wattage = More heat.

You can still get Incandescent specialty bulbs, like the Red bulb for reptiles that @aart uses.
Whatever you get, don't exceed the maximum watts for the reflector. View attachment 2125025
This reflector has a plastic base and maximum watts are 150.
Halogen bulbs put out more heat per watt than incandescent, so go by the higher equivalent number.

The reflector I use for my brooder has a ceramic base and is rated for a maximum 300 watts.View attachment 2125072 GC

Thanks for sharing this information!!!

 

[Happy mother clucker]

I use a plastic bin. A long one that I bought at Walmart for $22 it was 150 gallon then I have a heat lamp on a thermometer.
the light plugs into the thermometer box you set a temp and the light will turn on and off when it needs to.
my chicks seem fine they are always walking around and playing and then they get too warm they can go to the other side of the box.
It’s worked incredible for me. And I also put a feather duster in there that they like to cuddle up under sometimes. It’s cute
I’m super new at this too. First time having chicks. So I can’t say that what I’m doing it “right” but it’s working

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use a plastic bin. A long one that I bought at Walmart for $22 it was 150 gallon then I have a heat lamp on a thermometer.

Hope you have a proper mesh lid for that box, those chicks will spring themselves out of there in no time. I'd also remove the propped up plastic lid, it's going to hold in heat on what should be the cool side (or if you don't have a lid, cut out most of the center in the plastic one, replace with hardware cloth or a window screen).

No problem with the lamp melting the plastic from sitting on it? Guess it's not a super hot bulb?

 

[Rainwing]

depends on the lamp. i use a plastic bin for my chicks every year and the new heat lamp was actually not that powerful. never had overheating chicks with this heat lamp. it was warm enough for the chicks, but not very powerful to make them uncomfortable, which is good. it was nice not needing to adjust it.

 

[aart]

the new heat lamp was actually not that powerful.

Would help to know exactly what kind of lamp and the wattage.