New Chicks

[NewChkinTown]

Hi everyone! Thanks for letting me join.
We are a family of 3 here in Canada (me, hubby, and our 5yo daughter) we are new to getting chickens and expecting our first day-old chicks April 23 from a Hatchery. We will have 4.
Hubby is building our first ever chicken coop!! I'll post pics when done
My question is about the brooder. I want to get a heat emitter lamp instead of the red bulb. Any recommendations on a lamp? Wattage? Thanks so much for any info!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck with your chicks. Someone more knowledgeable than me will come along with the advice you seek.

 

[Eggscaping]

Hi everyone! Thanks for letting me join.
We are a family of 3 here in Canada (me, hubby, and our 5yo daughter) we are new to getting chickens and expecting our first day-old chicks April 23 from a Hatchery. We will have 4.
Hubby is building our first ever chicken coop!! I'll post pics when done
My question is about the brooder. I want to get a heat emitter lamp instead of the red bulb. Any recommendations on a lamp? Wattage? Thanks so much for any info!

Welcome to our wonderful group, we're glad you joined!
You know, we just ordered our first ever group of chicks (8 in all) from a nearby hardware store. They guarantee females, too. We are SO excited and we've been reading articles on this board for over a year now in preparation. What we plan to do is use the "mama hen heating pad" thingee. (Thingee - a valid technical term) It's a sort of lifted 'table' where the chicks can huddle underneath if they are cold and run out if not. Like a...mama hen. There are plans on here for making your own with a heating pad and wire frame. It's very safe and from what has been written, very effective. You can even go to Amazon and find an already-created form...here is a page link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=chick+br...NBS&sprefix=chick+,aps,233&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_7_6
IMHO that's the best way to go. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[NewChkinTown]

Welcome to our wonderful group, we're glad you joined!
You know, we just ordered our first ever group of chicks (8 in all) from a nearby hardware store. They guarantee females, too. We are SO excited and we've been reading articles on this board for over a year now in preparation. What we plan to do is use the "mama hen heating pad" thingee. (Thingee - a valid technical term) It's a sort of lifted 'table' where the chicks can huddle underneath if they are cold and run out if not. Like a...mama hen. There are plans on here for making your own with a heating pad and wire frame. It's very safe and from what has been written, very effective. You can even go to Amazon and find an already-created form...here is a page link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=chick+brooder&crid=2PZYO9O0UXNBS&sprefix=chick+,aps,233&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_7_6
IMHO that's the best way to go. Good luck and keep us posted!

Haha I agree. Thingy is a technical term!
I know exactly what you are referring to. I've seen them on Amazon. EcoGlo or something? They are expensive here, $130 on Amazon.ca. we are looking for amore cost effective way. I have read that Heat Emitter bulbs are good and safe way as well. Like the ones used for reptiles. I'm just having a hard time figuring out wattage for such a small number of birds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not sure specifically what a heat emitter bulb is but I've used red reptile bulbs. I still keep a 75 watt around just in case.

The standard poultry heat lamp bulb is 250 watts which is massively excessive and I personally don't feel safe using those in a home or small backyard set up.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's a flat ceramic bulb. No light emits, just heat. What would you say is a safe wattage to use?

I'd read reviews on the type of product you're looking at, but just at a glance at some amazon reviews, it sounds like 150 watt will warm a reptile tank to around 85 degrees? So I guess 150 watt would be the best option to start? You may need to adjust the lamp placement a bit to see what's comfortable for the chicks.

 

[Bobbi4]

Hi everyone! Thanks for letting me join.
We are a family of 3 here in Canada (me, hubby, and our 5yo daughter) we are new to getting chickens and expecting our first day-old chicks April 23 from a Hatchery. We will have 4.
Hubby is building our first ever chicken coop!! I'll post pics when done
My question is about the brooder. I want to get a heat emitter lamp instead of the red bulb. Any recommendations on a lamp? Wattage? Thanks so much for any info!

mine are due to hatch next week and we are going with the brooder heat source to!! th" the thingy" lol I am super excited I have 18 faverolle
eggs!!!

 

[NewChkinTown]

Not sure specifically what a heat emitter bulb is but I've used red reptile bulbs. I still keep a 75 watt around just in case.

The standard poultry heat lamp bulb is 250 watts which is massively excessive and I personally don't feel safe using those in a home or small backyard set up.

It's basically a reptile a reptile light. It's either black or white flat ceramic bulb that only emits heat. Typically used for reptiles

 

[NewChkinTown]

mine are due to hatch next week and we are going with the brooder heat source to!! th" the thingy" lol I am super excited I have 18 faverolle
eggs!!!

The ceramic heat emitter or the red bulb? What wattage are you using? We are only going to have 4 chicks and I'm finding it really hard to figure out what I need for bulb wattage. We will be using a plastic tote for a brooder box.

 

[aart]

It's basically a reptile a reptile light. It's either black or white flat ceramic bulb that only emits heat. Typically used for reptiles

Not the same.
Not fond of a the heat emitters, found they are very hot right underneath but 'circle of warmth' is small and cools quickly towards perimeter.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:

They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate