First brooder setup, please evaluate!

[junebuggena]

The biggest reason why commercial poultry farms use heat lamps is because they are raising hundreds of chicks in large barns. There is a ton of space to defuse the heat. But it just doesn't translate over to small batch (under 25) brooding. And anything that can be done to lessen the stress on young chicks is always best. Heating pad brooding goes a long way in terms of reducing stress for the chicks. There are no worries about the chicks getting too warm or too cold. They are free to regulate themselves, just like they would with a broody hen. They also have that instinctual need to huddle up under something. They can't do that with a heat lamp, but it's a completely natural behavior that they can do with the heating pad. The risk of fire is much less as well. Young chicks grow fast and produce a LOT of dust. That dust is very flammable and builds up quickly on the heat lamp. Also, as their feathers grow in, their chick down starts to fly everywhere. Again, very flammable. Heating pads, unless they have been damage in some way, are very safe and don't get hot enough to catch anything on fire.
Giving them a night and day cycle helps them get the rest they need without being constantly woken by siblings running over them. And since they only have that one spot to get warm, they feather in much faster, often within 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[junebuggena]

Sunbeam. They offer several models with a feature to stay on. And they are affordable.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

The link above to the pandtpoultry product did not work, so I'm not sure to what it is referring, but I did read your very interesting article on your grow window brooder and brooding outdoors.  Very interesting!  Moving from the very warm indoor brooder to outdoors in six weeks, just when our evenings will start getting cold, is a concern for me, so I like the idea that it builds cold hardiness and may promote earlier feathering.  Since this is my first batch, and I have no flock with which to integrate them, I'd love your ideas on moving them into the coop earlier than usual, and how to make that an easy transition (i.e. heating pad?).



I found this post interesting, with the heating pad draped over a frame, which I guess would help to lessen the fire concern:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

I also had thought about how the brooder light would screw with sleeping schedules, but then told myself I must be worrying too much, as it seemed to be the way everyone does it.  I guess that's one of the many differences between farmers, and those raising chicks as a sort of backyard pet, us probably tending more toward the latter.

I'm glad you're taking these other methods into consideration. But last year I raised original flock using traditional methods; this year I've used the outdoor brooder with hearing pad method and I'm never going back. The babies love the heating pad, and they adjust to the outdoors and integrate sooner. I know you have nothing to compare to, but your won't regret it.

 

[azygous]

I am also very glad you are considering options to the traditional brooder box method. Didn't you ever hear your mother say, "Just because all your friends are jumping off a cliff, why do you think it's a terrific idea?" Or something like that.

Just because everyone has always brooded backyard chicks in a brooder box indoors under a heat lamp doesn't mean it's the best idea since sliced bread was invented. Ask the chicks. I know my chicks like natural day and night and it sure cuts down on the stress of being a baby chick.

Later, there's the stress of the radical move from indoor brooder box to a much larger and scary (to babies) coop and run. This is eliminated by brooding in the coop or run from the start. I've set my one-day old chicks up in a safe brooding pen with a heating pad cave when it is in the high 60s(F). They don't seem the least bit uncomfortable, running around, happily exploring their new world, ducking into the warm cave from time to time to take the chill off.

It's similar to the baby chick my broody hen happens to be raising at present. The chick doesn't mind the chilly mornings at all, and she just gets under the hen when she feels cold. Same with the heating pad.

I brood in the run because there's a lot more room and I have partitioned pens that make it safe. It's also convenient to have the chicks right in the middle of the adult flock all day long so they all get to see the new flock members growing up.

When it comes time to move into the coop to sleep, I did something new this summer. I used a fuzzy cat bed to transition the chicks from the heating pad cave to the coop. It worked like a charm. The chicks adored it, and I would move it out into the run during the day, and they would nap in it. They used it until they were three months old and got too large to fit.


I've yet to hear about someone trying this outdoor brooding method who has said they plan on going back to brooding indoors in a plastic tote and heating lamp.

I guess it could happen. But not likely.

 

[junebuggena]

I've yet to hear about someone trying this outdoor brooding method who has said they plan on going back to brooding indoors in a plastic tote and heating lamp.

I guess it could happen. But not likely.

I guess under very special circumstances, someone might decide to go back to traditional. Like if the heating pad suddenly stops working, or a chick needs round the clock care.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Chicks were always brooded outside in a barn or shed. It's only recently that people started doing it indoors. My husband and I are still country folk who think chickens don't belong in the house.

I also brood during the correct season so my chicks are only getting extra heat for a week or so. I like the control a heat lamp gives me. The other ways depend on the chicks making correct decisions which they don't always make during their first week. I like my heat lamp, and it's a wonderful cheap easy source of heat when used correctly.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I will say that the heating pad I bought cost about the same as a heat lamp and bulb. I'm not sure how it compares energy use wise. I would think it uses less energy, since none is given off as light. Since it has multiple settings, it's as easy as toggling a switch to make adjustments, and you don't even have to bother the chicks to do it. It takes just as much brains on the chicks part to seek out the warm area of the brooder whether than warmth comes from a pad or a light.

I do agree that season helps. I'm winding down my hatching now because nights are getting cool and even though the pad puts out adequate heat I still prefer brooding during the warmer months and when the temp doesn't drop as low at night.

 

[petra65]

Chicks arriving this week, just want to make sure I have an acceptable setup. I learned most of this from reading here, so hopefully it's right!

I was going to place this in the garage, to keep it in a place where my young kids could visit and handle the chicks, such that they develop a nice disposition. However, we're afraid my (very loud) car will scare them half to death every time I start it, so I have moved it to the basement of our house. Now, looking at it all set up with a heat lamp atop a bin full of newspaper and wood shavings, it looks too much like kindling to allow it in the house. So, it will be moved to my (heated and air conditioned) barn. This means less opportunity for the kids to interact (it won't be right in the house with them), but better peace of mind for my family sleeping at night.

Lamp was tested with several different bulbs and locations, but it seems the best way to hit 95F average in the tub is to just place the lamp right on the chicken wire toward one end. Directly under lamp is about 100F, but the far end of the tub is only 85F, so it seems to give them the option of being warmer or cooler, by moving around the tub.

This looks way too hot. A plastic bin will heat up very quick. I would use just a cardboard box. I used a eco glow for the first week. Loving it.
Good luck and send pics!!

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Yeah, you missed above that I have the lamp moved up about 10" off the screen. Inside tote has held 94F for the entire first week. Moving it back tonight, targeting 90F for week two.


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[AmandaMBG]

Have you thought of using a kiddie pool? It allows for the temp variance everyone is talking about and you can put cardboard panels around the edge to keep them in.