That was me until last year. I had a 100w heat bulb and had raised smaller batches with it. I had shopped commercial heat plates but didn't find one that would suit my outdoor brooder needs (Premier now makes such a thing). But, once I found Blooie's thread, I wanted to try DIY. My total investment was only $13 and wow, what a difference! No more struggle to keep from overheating the space and the chicks seemed entirely content with their manufactured hen. It was literally 18F one night and I went out to check on them. The pad was enough heat to keep their water from freezing. Not a peep to be heard, they were all snuggled up under their hen and then running around the next morning in freezing weather like it was nothing. I put the lamp away. Maybe someday I'll have need of it but not for my typical batches of 4-10.
Ditto Dat^^^
I will have chicks mid-March, they will be outside. Our temps are all over the place this time of year, could be in the 70s or 20s - who knows, so the cave works well.
It's the best yet...can lift it up to check the birds without having to 'rebuild' the thing every time, and the smaller mesh on rack eliminates heads getting stuck.
