Ceramic heater

[JacinLarkwell]

So I'm really trying to move away from a heat bukb, but figured a few days under a heat source other than their own (I'm planning on making those mama heating pad/powerless heater things) would be a good idea when my chicks first arrive so they can just get settled and I can make sure everyone is alright.

I saw these at Wal-Mart today and was wondering if they would work for a heat source or if I would need a larger wattage

 

[Trisseh]

I had used a couple of these types of bulbs in the coop for my ducklings last year. I like the lack of light and the way they emit more radiant heat, but they don’t have great range and they get very hot to the touch (my one poor duckling jumped and burned herself on one) so personally, if you’re just looking for a transitional thing for a few days, I would just use a heating pad. You definitely need to play around with the space and deflection of heat in the brooder you’re using to make sure the heat is going where it needs to go with the ceramic bulbs. They work best in smaller spaces and definitely with some sort of baffle/shield to help direct the heat down, and some sort of protective covering to keep the chicks from touching it.

If you’re going to hodgepodge a heating pad source, depending on how many chicks you’ve got, the frame doesn’t have to be fancy. I currently have 3x 2 day old chicks in a small cat carrier with a sunbeam heating pad, held up by 2 rolled up socks. xD they can snuggle up to the socks and press themselves against the heating pad to whatever degree they need.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don't trust the sunbeam heating pads. They seem like a huge fire risk and I'm getting a lot of chicks. I have the trough and later brooders all set up for spring, and have way too many coming for cat carriers

 

[Trisseh]

Ah, ok. I haven’t had any issues with any of my heating pads, sunbeam or otherwise, but then I always have small groups in smaller brooders, and they’re all in the house so I can keep an eye on things. I’ve also used the K&H pet bed warmers that are meant to be covered, if you wanted a pad and had concerns about fire risk with them.

Well the , on the plus side, you have time to play around with heights/wattage if you’re wanting to go with bulbs.

I had 2x 200 watt ceramic bulbs in my 4x5 duck house; it’s 5.5’ tall inside, and I made a “false ceiling” in half of the space with the bulbs below to create the warmer and cooler areas. Straw for bedding and heat retention. Temps outdoors were in the single digits (Celsius) for the first few weeks, and had no issues with any of them huddling or anything. There were only 6 of them in there at the time. Don’t know if that helps at all but that’s been my experience with them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Alright, thanks. So since they get hot quickly, so you think just a 100 watt would be okay for a large group of chicks? I did find a shield for the lamp to keep chicks away but they shouldn't be jumping that high at a week old either

 

[jreardon1918]

I used the MHP outdoors this spring. Can't say enough good things about it. No chicks in distress. For a larger brood, I would think a couple hearing pads. Last time around I used a heat emitter. In a traditional indoor brooder. Had some issues. I think they were too hot. And I was a rookie. Good luck.

 

[Trisseh]

It’s more a matter of containing the heat with those. If you think of their actual application, for reptiles, usually they’re in a glass aquarium/terrarium type set up, which holds heat in just because it’s an enclosed box. If I were to use them again in the same kind of set up, I would probably have a hover cover type draftguard like they used to (and maybe still do) use for broilers.
There was a similar thread on here about these bulbs before but I can’t find it now. Anyways, I had shared a link (below) that has a simple setup that would lend itself well to the ceramic bulbs and make the best use of them as long as they had some sort of cage on them to prevent any burns.
This link

biggest considerations are going to be ambient temp/heat output/heat retention to make sure they’re warm enough without cooking. Maybe have them hooked up to a thermostat if you can.