Help with brooder heat plate!

[Rurumo]

I've seen pics in Amazon reviews where people have these plates fully an inch above the chicks heads, and they are all piled up trying to get warm. These aren't "radiant heaters" they are contact heaters. Adjusting the plate so it's lower on one side and higher on the other really helps. The chicks will "stand up" into it until their back touches, then if you look closely, they back off just a little so its touching their fuzz but not their skin. You want them to be able to position themselves so they can easily touch their back to it while in a comfortable position-if it gets too hot they will move. This is where angling the plate helps ensure there are perfect spots for them underneath. I would encourage new plate owners to watch lots of videos-look for the videos with obviously happy chicks shooting back and forth from the plate to their food dish-the plate will look almost "too low" if you've never used one before.

 

[Huntmaster]

The surface is going to be warmer as its a radiant heater.

Brooder plates are not radiant heaters they are to work as the same premise as the mother hen by touching the chick. They snuggle up against the plate just as they would a mother hen.

 

[CrystalAnon]

I have the Rentacoop one from Amazon with no heat controls. I set it at an angle so it is very close to the bedding at the back and several inches up at the front - the chicks decide for themselves how close to the hot plate they want to be.

That’s exactly what I’m dealing with. I don’t have heat controls. It is what it is, once it heats up to the max. I saw it at 125 degrees, when I had it very low to the ground. There’s no way I want my chicks heads up against that kind of heat, so I raised it, for their safety. They seem to be happy with it at 95-105 degrees, and so am I. Whatever they’re happy with, I’m happy with.
Their behavior will tell me what is best. When it was set low, they were gathering outside the heat plate, with their butts inside. That told me it was too hot for them to go under completely.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Brooder plates are not radiant heaters they are to work as the same premise as the mother hen by touching the chick. They snuggle up against the plate just as they would a mother hen.

That’s only if the plate actually has the same temp as a mother hen. The plate I have would be an extremely ill hen. I registered up to 125 degrees, when the heating plate was low to the ground.
They don’t need to touch the plate. If they did, you should tell people with heat lamps that they’re doing it wrong. Guaranteed, you won’t do that.
It’s the temperature that matters. Keeping them warm enough. Touching the heat plate is not important.

 

[Huntmaster]

That’s only if the plate actually has the same temp as a mother hen. The plate I have would be an extremely ill hen. I registered up to 125 degrees, when the heating plate was low to the ground.
They don’t need to touch the plate. If they did, you should tell people with heat lamps that they’re doing it wrong. Guaranteed, you won’t do that.
It’s the temperature that matters. Keeping them warm enough. Touching the heat plate is not important.

Just telling you how brooder plates are supposed to work maybe there is something wrong with some or different directions for some out there but not that I have seen, brooder plates are not radiant heaters like a heat lamp and are not supposed to be used like one. So, you are very right I would never tell someone to use a heat lamp like a brooder plate.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Just telling you how brooder plates are supposed to work maybe there is something wrong with some or different directions for some out there but not that I have seen, brooder plates are not radiant heaters like a heat lamp and are not supposed to be used like one. So, you are very right I would never tell someone to use a heat lamp like a brooder plate.

I’m not sure why this seems to be a sticking point for you, where you need to say that a heating plate is not a radiant heater. They do radiate heat downward. Or sideways, if you set it up that way. Are you playing semantics? I don’t understand the difference you’re attempting to point out. And does it really matter?
Let me know if your point is just going over my head somehow. I’m happy to refine my thinking, if an explanation makes sense to me.

 

[Huntmaster]

@CrystalAnon This is not how a heat plate works.
It's meant for them to huddle underneath with their backs touching the surface of the plate.

I've seen pics in Amazon reviews where people have these plates fully an inch above the chicks heads, and they are all piled up trying to get warm. These aren't "radiant heaters" they are contact heaters. Adjusting the plate so it's lower on one side and higher on the other really helps. The chicks will "stand up" into it until their back touches, then if you look closely, they back off just a little so its touching their fuzz but not their skin. You want them to be able to position themselves so they can easily touch their back to it while in a comfortable position-if it gets too hot they will move. This is where angling the plate helps ensure there are perfect spots for them underneath. I would encourage new plate owners to watch lots of videos-look for the videos with obviously happy chicks shooting back and forth from the plate to their food dish-the plate will look almost "too low" if you've never used one before.

Brooder plates are not radiant heaters they are to work as the same premise as the mother hen by touching the chick. They snuggle up against the plate just as they would a mother hen.

@CrystalAnon Because they are not radiant heaters even if they do give off minimal heat, they are not meant to change ambient air. anything that is warmer than ambient air will do the same and would not be considered a radiant heater. A radiant heater is made to change ambient air in an area a brooder plate does not work on that premise. It works just as a hen would warm her chicks by her body warmth not by warming the brooder/area. No sticking point for me that's just the way they work I didn't tell anybody how to use their brooder plate.

 

[Iluveggers]

I have 3 heat plates. 2 Rent-a-Coop and the generic tractor supply one. Have not had a problem with them with the 6 batches of chicks I brooded with them. They should be set diagonally as a previous poster mentioned. I brood either indoors in spring or in the garage in summer, and temsp are usually at least 65 degrees in the space. The first few nights I leave a small light on in case any of the chicks come out and get lost in the dark & can’t find their way back to the plate. Best part is, I don’t have any worries of a fire from a heat lamp. Too many stories scared me too much to try one.

 

[CrystalAnon]

@CrystalAnon Because they are not radiant heaters even if they do give off minimal heat, they are not meant to change ambient air. anything that is warmer than ambient air will do the same and would not be considered a radiant heater. A radiant heater is made to change ambient air in an area a brooder plate does not work on that premise. It works just as a hen would warm her chicks by her body warmth not by warming the brooder/area. No sticking point for me that's just the way they work I didn't tell anybody how to use their brooder plate.

I feel like you’re arguing semantics. They do give off heat, and not minimal, unless you mean “minimal” in a different way.
I never claimed they changed “ambient air” in the brooder. That is a new claim you brought in.
But, if you’d like to know, the heat plate changed the temperature in the entire room, even just the tiny unit that it is.
We have a cat, therefore we need to shut the door every time we leave the extra room we’re using for the chicks, for their safety. There is a difference between the room that has the chicks & the heat plate, and my office, which is the same size room, without the heat plate. It’s 5-10 degrees difference, depending on the time of the day. That tells me it is changing the temperature of the“ambient air”, but to me, that doesn’t even matter, as long as the chicks are comfortable.
You still did not explain why this is important to you, but that’s okay.
You do you. And I’ll do what is working for me. The peeps are happy, so I am happy!
Take care.

 

[Huntmaster]

@Crystalan Wishing the best for you and your new chicks.