Heat lamp on while not home?

[ant888]

Hello, I just got 4 day to a week old chicks. My question was, if I leave the house, should I leave the heat lamp on? I always thought there was a fire hazard.

Thanks.

 

[ant888]

Oh, forgot to mention. I need some advice soon, because, I have to leave tomorrow. Sorry for rushing it.

 

[realsis]

oh no. you have a kind of catch 22. heat lamps are indeed too dangerous to leave on without supervision. yet if your chicks are young they need heat.. can you possibly get to a farm store before you leave and get something safe you can leave on without fire risk like a Brinsea Ecoglow radiant heat brooder. That's the safest thing I can think of to leave unattended. no risk of the temperature being wrong, no risk of burning anything, and it adjusts to the height of chicks when they grow. they make a 20 chick and 50 chick. it works very much like mother hen and the chicks control if they want to go under for warmth or not. it's got a two year warranty and it's worth it for a piece of mind. honestly, that's the only thing I'd feel comfortable leaving on. most feed stores carry it but being chick season I'd call first to make sure it's available. it's different than the heating plates as it's heat is radiant more like the sun. I think you can get the 20 chick for about 85 dollars. I know it's a lot but you can use it for years to come safely and confident it won't cause fire. it also costs a WHOLE LOT LESS money to run than a heat lamp so that's another plus. Even if you don't get the Radiant heat brooder, please don't leave the lamp on. one piece of dust can ignite a hot lamp. however you will have to find another safe way to warm them.. I hope this helps.

 

[ant888]

Thanks for your answer. How else should I warm them? Can I cover half of the brooder with a blanket? And the other half open for air?

 

[keesmom]

You can use a regular incandescent bulb while you are gone too. At 4 weeks they should be mostly feathered so 60-75 watts should do.

 

[ant888]

Will that be a fire hazard too? Is the blanket idea bad, too?

 

[RobertPlamondon]

Hello, I just got 4 day to a week old chicks. My question was, if I leave the house, should I leave the heat lamp on? I always thought there was a fire hazard.

Thanks.

The chicks need supplemental heat, so don't turn that off!

There's no fire hazard unless your setup is extravagantly unsafe. Sadly, many are. With only a few chicks, the most straightforward thing to do is to realize that you don't need much heat at all, and that non-scary, not-very-powerful bulbs will do the job nicely. For just four chicks and indoor brooding, a 35-watt indoor floodlight bulb is more than sufficient, while being too feeble to represent much of a hazard. A 250-watt bulb is good for 75 chicks. Since you only have about 1/20 as many chicks, you only need about 1/20th the wattage, to warm up a circle of 1/20th the size. But they don't make floodlight bulbs that small, so you'll end up settling for one that's bigger than you need -- 35 watts, say.

I have a blog post about this at http://www.plamondon.com/wp/5-brooder-lamp-safety-tips/

Robert

 

[ant888]

Okay, that's better. Is a 45 watt floodlight too much? Will it pose a fire hazard more than the 35 watt?

 

[ant888]

Well, the store I bought it from is closed. If the lamp has a guard is it considered safe?

 

[junebuggena]

I use a heating pad cave. The chicks love it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update