Heating plate concerns

[Lillycat918]

Thank you everyone! Its nice getting honest answers from other chicken lovers! I just want to make sure I do everything right and nothing goes wrong.

 

[PolergirlOH]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nsulated-coop-premier-heat-plate-ftw.1296262/


If they’re going under at all, I wouldn’t worry. My experience tells me they don’t need nearly as much heat as conventional wisdom says.

 

[frackmomma]

They are naturally weaning themselves off the heater, which is super great! Just like they would with mama hen. You're doing a great job.

Also, lots of folks watch their chicks though a camera, so I don't think you're crazy at all!

 

[Cindy in PA]

I just brought home my 8 Blue Wyandottes. I dipped their beaks in the water & then put them under the Premiere heat plate & now I have no idea what they are doing! Going to take some getting used to compared to heat lamps after all these years. They have only been home from the feed store 45 minutes, so I will check on them later. They are probably tired from the long trip & being in a bin with a hundred other chicks & bright lights! If I smell fried chicken, should I worry, LOL? They are quiet, so I think they are good. Going to have to figure out when I have to adjust the height.

 

[ZooAtHome]

I just brought home my 8 Blue Wyandottes. I dipped their beaks in the water & then put them under the Premiere heat plate & now I have no idea what they are doing! Going to take some getting used to compared to heat lamps after all these years. They have only been home from the feed store 45 minutes, so I will check on them later. They are probably tired from the long trip & being in a bin with a hundred other chicks & bright lights! If I smell fried chicken, should I worry, LOL? They are quiet, so I think they are good. Going to have to figure out when I have to adjust the height.

Mine did the same thing the day I brought them home. Once I tucked them under the plate, they didn't want to come back out. Every couple of hours, I would lift up the plate and send them scattering. Once out, they would all eat and drink then disappear under the plate again. By the second day, they started coming out on their own and I no longer had to lift the plate to check on them.

That was one week ago today. I've since added a second plate because of size differences in the chicks. Now, they spend most of the day sitting on top of them (the top is slightly warm to the touch), only going underneath occasionally. They all still sleep under the plates at night, though some of the bigger ones sleep with their heads sticking out ... which is really quite adorable.

 

[aart]

I just brought home my 8 Blue Wyandottes. I dipped their beaks in the water & then put them under the Premiere heat plate & now I have no idea what they are doing! Going to take some getting used to compared to heat lamps after all these years. They have only been home from the feed store 45 minutes, so I will check on them later. They are probably tired from the long trip & being in a bin with a hundred other chicks & bright lights! If I smell fried chicken, should I worry, LOL? They are quiet, so I think they are good. Going to have to figure out when I have to adjust the height.

IKR!? That drove me crazy at first!
it helps if plate is set in brooder where you can peek under.

Chick stampede by aart posted Apr 20, 2019 at 7:19 PM

 

[5GodsDown]

Hi! I bought a heat plate for exactly the same reason. Mine has legs that can be positioned seperatly so one side is higher up than the other to give them a bit of a choice where to lie down and also to see how much heat they want.

My chicks are 1 1/2 weeks old now and they don't go under that often anymore. The two biggest sleep near the edge and the smaller one still sleeps somewhere in the middle. We've had a few very warm, sunny days and then they lie down on top like in my picture.

If they need heat, they'll crawl under and if they're still too cold, they'll let you know