Heat Plates vs Heat Lamps

[seminolewind]

I raised 2 chicks inside my shirt for 4 weeks and they are perfectly psychologically normal-they just like plaid.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Now you know someone who doesn't get them familiar with water and food from the start. Me. Chicks are pretty much instinctual beings and you do this because you were told to do it so you automatically do it. I was never told to do it, so I automatically let chicks do what they do on instinct. Never yet seen one that couldn't find and drink water on their own and find and eat on their own~and very quickly, I might add.

You seem to adhere to what you read on sites and books but have no real experience on the matter of your own. Have you ever just tried to see what chicks can do without being shown? I'm betting not. I've raised plenty of chicks by now and not a one died of malnourishment because they were too stupid to find the water and food...and they didn't need the light to show them the way.

As for comparing hens to radiant heat supplied by the plate, these plates were constructed to mimic that kind of heat that chicks get from a hen, so my comparison is a good one.

In a real life brooded situation chicks do not spread out and get comfortable....they make forays out to food and water and wander around, but when they get cold they head right back under their mama and that's where they stay until they get warm enough to venture out once more, so the heat plate is~once again~ a more natural setting and more like normal, instinctual chick behavior in the first days of their lives.

I agree that the plates are expensive, but I think the cost will pay for itself for those who brood a lot of chicks over the years and will also pay for itself in peace of mind when dealing with the types of heat being produced and the safety thereof. It also can take a lot of the guesswork out for newbies and their trying to control brooder temps.

I've never used one of these heat plates, so I'm not pumping for them against lights or vice versa....but your stance is based on poorly defensible reasons, at best.

 

[Michael Apple]

Well Bee, I raised my first set of chicks as a kid in 1977, so your assumption is incorrect along with many other points of your reasoning. I've made my point, and need not defend anything but common sense that has assisted many poultry keepers raising chicks for many years. Facts matter to me more than opinion.

 

[Beekissed]

You mean in all that time you've been dipping chick's beaks in water and never just stopped to see if they would do it on their own?

 

[BrickWall Honey]

For what it's worth, we just had a small hatch (12) put them in the brooder with both a 125W normal heat lamp that is located so it is 95 degrees and a Brinsea heatplate which we just got last week.

The chicks as soon as we put them in the brooder went under the heat plate and after 4 days still prefer the heat plate. Although the heat lamp is giving plenty of warmth where they need it.

Yet they prefer the heat plate why? My opinion is the close overhead comfort and relative darkness. Same as a hen would provide.

So until the chicks decide differently I'm going to switch to just the heat plate.

 

[Michael Apple]

Yep...I always give my broody hens little flash lights so the chicks will know to go to her for warmth. Pulls them in every time..like moths to a flame.

You stated chicks know what to do based on instinct. Supplying artificial light would be unnatural.

 

[Beekissed]

You stated chicks know what to do based on instinct. Supplying artificial light would be unnatural.

Yes...that's why the comment was made with sarcasm and irony.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have brooded chicks both ways, and I prefer my Brinsea Ecoglows. The chicks are much more content under them than with a heat lamp. It more closely resembles them being under a broody hen, and not out in the open. I raise my chicks outdoor in a small coop, and it works just fine, even in cold weather. I do provide a 25 watt party bulb because my coop has no windows, so I have to provide some light for them. It is much less expensive, but that's not my main concern. Chances of fire are practically zero, using common sense of course.

 

[Michael Apple]

You mean in all that time you've been dipping chick's beaks in water and never just stopped to see if they would do it on their own?

When did I say beaks must be dipped? I've dipped and not dipped. It is important and wise to assist chicks that have just gone through a stressful shipping process, possibly many miles for a day or two. That is a common practice, also proven to benefit chicks.

 

[seminolewind]

Which one should I get?