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

[Happy mother clucker]

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?

I do, I have the hardware cloth to make the lid. We keep our house pretty cold so the light usually heats it up and shuts off but if I take the staggered lid off the light stays in all day and the temperature drops significantly. So I figured I’d do the hardware cloth once they are a little older and when I can lower the temp. Hoping the timing works out to where that’s when they start hopping out.
I haven’t had any problem with the plastic heating up hot or anything. It stays pretty cool
And they are always running around being very active all over the box. So I guess I just figured that it was a good temp in there for them. They don’t pant or anything and usually when they sleep they will sleep closer to the lamp and feather duster

but I will definitely try and keep the lid off more. Or maybe I will put a smaller lid to have the other side open for cooler air. Thank you so much

 

[Bigbluefrog]

we used a big plastic tote. I had the heat lamp on a wood post. Adjusted height til I got the right temperature.
Also they need an area to cool down too. So a big enough space for that.
So last year I started with a 200 watt red bulb, switched over to 100 watt ceramic bulb. This got them sleeping at night.
I also tried the heat frame for chicks to nestle under. They liked the ceramic light best. I used it after two weeks.
The box with cloth to mimic momma hen - they didn’t like it.
i Plan to use red lamp again for first week or so and switch to ceramic bulb.
Got a post ready -
Good luck with your chicks! I am hoping to get some tomorrow- I hear they are going fast this year!

 

[Jrclark610]

Just recently some wrote to the forums about using a plastic bin and heat lamp. They were using that system and their chick was showing signs of being overheated even though the temperature was what they were told it should be. Problem is a chick does not have to be at 90 degrees all the time. They need an area that is 10 to 15 degrees cooler to go to if they feel they are hot. A bin like that holds in all the heat and gives the chick no escape from all that heat.

The person who wrote in solved the issue by getting a bin that was twice as large. No more chicks panting. A heat lamp is really over kill for a plastic bin. A regular light bulb would probably do just fine without getting too hot. That is what I used the first time I had chicks.

The best thing you could have done is not buy a heat lamp in the first place. Heat lamps can be very dangerous and can cause fires. A brooding plate is so much nicer and better and the chicks can decide when and if they want heat. Without a light on 24 hours a day they also can sleep at night like they should.

A brooding plate is a square heating plate with legs at all 4 corners. You adjust the height of the legs so that the chicks can put their backs against the plate. You raise the plate as the chicks grow. No light on all the time. It was scary using one the first time. The chicks tend to be so content that they are quiet. I was not used to quiet chicks.

The brooding plates don't get too hot in the totes? I've never used them before

 

[rosemarythyme]

The brooding plates don't get too hot in the totes? I've never used them before

Plates work by direct contact, not heating the air around them. A properly functioning brooding plate should not heat up the tote. I still would not recommend a plastic tote though, they're simply not big enough for more than a couple of chicks.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We've raised several batches of chicks successfully in totes with lamps. We ziptie the lamp to a hanger so there is no chance of it coming loose or falling, and we keep it raised quite a way above the tote. In addition to that, we keep the tote pulled out from the closet so only one small portion of the tote is under the lamp. We remove the doors from the closet, of course. Two totes fit in the closet side by side and we usually have six chicks per tote. They are only in the totes for three weeks, then they move to the outside brooder. I know conventional wisdom says to start the chicks at 90°F but our last batch did remarkably well even though we started them at only 80. They were robust, active and vigorous and we did not have a single case of pasty butt.