Throwing my two cents into the discussion...I bought the EcoGlow20 this spring in advance of my order of 20 chicks arriving near the end of March...had my brooder all set, even switched to sand for the first time. Then Mother Nature had to step in and bring the freeze back into central Ohio and mess the best laid plans up. Ended up totally winging it (ha--funny) at the last minute because my brooder is a 4x4' wooden,ex-whelping box, with 2" of sand in it, all set up in my chicken coop/shed...weighed about 900 pounds, or so! Had to go to the basement, dump household stuff out of a plastic tub, grabbed pine shavings from the horse barn, and relocated everything to my mudroom. Sigh. Temps 20 degrees below the normal end of March temps.
Since I was a good chicken mom (not my first batch of fuzz-butts), from my pre-purchase research I knew enough to know that the EcoGlow didn't work well with temps below 50...but even my house is normally around 65-68 so i thought it would be fine.
Bottom line, my babies arrived all safe and sound and spent their first 2 1/2 weeks in my mudroom--ended up with 22, instead of 20..and sadly lost one the second night (first loss of a baby in my 5 years
)
Here's what I've learned this time:
1) If you are in the midwest and want chicks in early spring, the EcoGlow is not a good idea unless your house is your brooder location. I enjoyed having them close by for easy access/entertainment, but the 'real' brooder was a much nicer environment after their first week or so--they grow so quickly!
I ended up moving them to the brooder in the big shed at 2 1/2 weeks with much concern--still cold outdoors, but I caved and hung my heatlamp also so they were quite comfy. I do have a few safeguards for the heatlamp, plus being on sand the fire hazard was almost nil.
2) The guidelines for the recommended heat(95 week one, 90 week two, and so on) are just that-guidelines. Use common sense and watch them--their behavior will tell you what you need to do. They have no idea what the numbers are--only know if they feel cold and need more heat, or need to get away from the heat.
3) The EcoGlow20 is only good the first week or so for 20 chicks...the buggers soon outgrow it and when the temps were that far below the norm the added heat source made all the difference in the world. If I did it over again I'd cough up the extra $$ and buy the larger EcoGlow.
I now have 21 gorgeous 96% feathered babies who have not only outgrown their 4x4' brooder but the 2'x3' addition I created and have now moved out into their newer home in the secure kennel and coop, much to their delight, where they have room to pretend they are eagles. They have been off any heatsource since they were around 4-4 1/2 weeks old. With the larger number and sheltered brooder they kept warm without any trouble at all.
Now....time to figure who who's a "he" so I can begin to sort through who can stay and who must go....Chicken Math....sigh.
Since I was a good chicken mom (not my first batch of fuzz-butts), from my pre-purchase research I knew enough to know that the EcoGlow didn't work well with temps below 50...but even my house is normally around 65-68 so i thought it would be fine.
Bottom line, my babies arrived all safe and sound and spent their first 2 1/2 weeks in my mudroom--ended up with 22, instead of 20..and sadly lost one the second night (first loss of a baby in my 5 years
)Here's what I've learned this time:
1) If you are in the midwest and want chicks in early spring, the EcoGlow is not a good idea unless your house is your brooder location. I enjoyed having them close by for easy access/entertainment, but the 'real' brooder was a much nicer environment after their first week or so--they grow so quickly!
I ended up moving them to the brooder in the big shed at 2 1/2 weeks with much concern--still cold outdoors, but I caved and hung my heatlamp also so they were quite comfy. I do have a few safeguards for the heatlamp, plus being on sand the fire hazard was almost nil.
2) The guidelines for the recommended heat(95 week one, 90 week two, and so on) are just that-guidelines. Use common sense and watch them--their behavior will tell you what you need to do. They have no idea what the numbers are--only know if they feel cold and need more heat, or need to get away from the heat.
3) The EcoGlow20 is only good the first week or so for 20 chicks...the buggers soon outgrow it and when the temps were that far below the norm the added heat source made all the difference in the world. If I did it over again I'd cough up the extra $$ and buy the larger EcoGlow.
I now have 21 gorgeous 96% feathered babies who have not only outgrown their 4x4' brooder but the 2'x3' addition I created and have now moved out into their newer home in the secure kennel and coop, much to their delight, where they have room to pretend they are eagles. They have been off any heatsource since they were around 4-4 1/2 weeks old. With the larger number and sheltered brooder they kept warm without any trouble at all.
Now....time to figure who who's a "he" so I can begin to sort through who can stay and who must go....Chicken Math....sigh.
