Heat Plates vs Heat Lamps

[Leahs Mom]

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.

@Happy Chooks
Couple of questions for you:

-How cold of temperatures outside (in the coop) can you use it in?

-Have you - or anyone else - ever added something soft like cloth, etc., under there so it feels more like a mamma and they're not right up against the metal plate? (Just asking out of curiosity.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Which one should I get?

I'd say you should avoid the second one...looks like it may fry the kiddos before they get a chance

 

[sacchick]

Just curios what heat plate you chose: Brinsea or the one from Premiere1 ? I am at a toss up myself. Thanks for starting the thread

I just got my Brinsea last week, chicks due around Feb 21st from the feed store. I am new and researched a lot all things about using a plate made such good sense to me. Aside from all the reasons originally sited I am terrified of fire, house burned to the ground when I was 8 lost all my pets and some human life too.

 

[seminolewind]

OMG Sacchick, what a terrible thing to happen. I would be terrified too. I do worry about those hot bulbs and I am so intrigued that I want one too. I'm filled with curiosity.

 

[Happy Chooks]

@Happy Chooks
Couple of questions for you:

-How cold of temperatures outside (in the coop) can you use it in?

-Have you - or anyone else - ever added something soft like cloth, etc., under there so it feels more like a mamma and they're not right up against the metal plate? (Just asking out of curiosity.

Well, certainly not YOUR kind of cold. CA cold is a relative thing. I've used it down into the low 20's, but at that cold for freshly hatched chicks, I have had to supplement with a low wattage (75-100 watt) white light bulb for about a week. Then they are fine after that. I don't usually brood in the winter, but sometimes we get a weather shift and I have to deal with it. My small coop keeps in the heat really well, having no drafts. Brinsea says it's for indoor use only, but the DH won't let me brood indoors, so that option is out. I do have the plug protected inside the coop in the nesting box area (nobody stays until laying there) so the plug connections are not exposed to the weather.

I had day old chicks in the coop in this picture. It was taken before I had the EcoGlows, so they were under a heat lamp here. I have since brooded in similar conditions with a heat supplement for the first week.


I don't add anything cloth wise. The plate is smooth plastic. I just adjust they height as they grow, so they can get under it easily.

I just got my Brinsea last week, chicks due around Feb 21st from the feed store. I am new and researched a lot all things about using a plate made such good sense to me. Aside from all the reasons originally sited I am terrified of fire, house burned to the ground when I was 8 lost all my pets and some human life too.

How awful, I'm so sorry.

 

[sacchick]

Well, certainly not YOUR kind of cold. CA cold is a relative thing. I've used it down into the low 20's, but at that cold for freshly hatched chicks, I have had to supplement with a low wattage (75-100 watt) white light bulb for about a week. Then they are fine after that. I don't usually brood in the winter, but sometimes we get a weather shift and I have to deal with it. My small coop keeps in the heat really well, having no drafts. Brinsea says it's for indoor use only, but the DH won't let me brood indoors, so that option is out. I do have the plug protected inside the coop in the nesting box area (nobody stays until laying there) so the plug connections are not exposed to the weather.

I had day old chicks in the coop in this picture. It was taken before I had the EcoGlows, so they were under a heat lamp here. I have since brooded in similar conditions with a heat supplement for the first week.


I don't add anything cloth wise. The plate is smooth plastic. I just adjust they height as they grow, so they can get under it easily.


How awful, I'm so sorry.

Thanks I am 53 now, funny how some things stay with you for life.
I have read that chicks poop all over the top of the plate so I am going to use a non slippery contact paper that can be removed to store it. (got that off the Chicken Chicks site) I am so thankful to have all thee wonderful resources while venturing out of my comfort zone...I am a dog person and used to being the one with all the answers....Looking forward to learning in this new adventure!

 

[Lyrika]

I am using two ecoglow 20s to brood currently, and I really like them. No worrying about where/how to suspend a light etc. I spend a lot of time watching them during the day and their behaviour seems very natural. They venture out to feed, drink and play. If they get cold, or if something startles them, they get back under the ecoglow and peek out. They like having a safe hidey place. At night they all cuddle up underneath to sleep. I have them in a room that gets plenty of light, so they have a normal day-night cycle. It's summer here and is pretty warm during the day, so I would worry about overheating them if I was using a light.

The only downside I have found is that yeah, the bigger chicks are starting to jump on it and poop. I've wrapped the top in clingwrap so I just have to change that, it's easy enough to clean.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

@Happy Chooks
Couple of questions for you:

-How cold of temperatures outside (in the coop) can you use it in?

-Have you - or anyone else - ever added something soft like cloth, etc., under there so it feels more like a mamma and they're not right up against the metal plate? (Just asking out of curiosity.

Well, certainly not YOUR kind of cold. CA cold is a relative thing. I've used it down into the low 20's, but at that cold for freshly hatched chicks, I have had to supplement with a low wattage (75-100 watt) white light bulb for about a week. Then they are fine after that. I don't usually brood in the winter, but sometimes we get a weather shift and I have to deal with it. My small coop keeps in the heat really well, having no drafts. Brinsea says it's for indoor use only, but the DH won't let me brood indoors, so that option is out. I do have the plug protected inside the coop in the nesting box area (nobody stays until laying there) so the plug connections are not exposed to the weather.

Thank you! Very helpful.

Just for me to clarify, are you saying that even if it's in the 20's you didn't have to supplement with extra heat unless they were in their first week?

I wouldn't brood in this weather either..but in our spring it can be in the 60's one night and in the 30's the next so it's totally unpredictable until around June.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks I am 53 now, funny how some things stay with you for life.

I can't even imagine what it must have been like to experience that.

 

[aart]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that someone posted what ambient temp the Brinsea worked best at...I think it was @aoxa maybe she'll chime in.
She's using them exclusively, I think, and is brooding now in Canada.....but I think she has a heated brooding room in her new barn.