New help with heat lamps

[Jayecookie]

For baby chicks you need a heat lamp to warm them up just like the mamma would do, but my question is which heat lamp should I get? Some people have a 200 watt or 250 or 150... does this effect the heat? I only have four so I was wondering which one I should get.

 

[Storybrooke Acres]

I would recommend investing in a Sweeter Heater panel. It uses infrared heat and only has 32 watts. They have several different sizes to accommodate the amount of chicks you have or will have

 

[K3nzi3]

If you want a bulb, I only use red lights it is supposed to be less stressful for chicks. I typically use a 250 Watt bulb, as even if it gets to hot, you can always raise the lamp so it is not as hot.
(I have two ducklings on a 250 Watt red bulb, and they do great.)

 

[Tlmcq]

Heat lamps can be a fire hazard if gets bedding or other flammable materials too hot. Which is why people recommend heater panels or heat mats. The wattage depends on height of light to chicks in brooder and temp of where they're kept. Higher the wattage hotter the bulb will be. I use only 125 watts or less and adjust height of bulb to get proper temp. But, it depends alot on what you broody in and temperature of room, shed, coop etc...I never use a heat bulb in coop tho...it can be very dangerous due to fire risk.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Might i suggest a mama heat pad rather than a light?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

It is way easier to avoid issues caused by overheating, allows for natural day/night cycles frtom the start, is safer and is more natural for the chicks

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are a lot of different ways to provide heat. I use heat lamps but heating pads, emitters, heat plates, and other methods can work fine. They all have their benefits and limitations. Regardless of what you use to provide heat, your goal is to have one spot that stays warm enough in the coolest temperatures and a spot that stays cool enough in the warmest temperatures. Whether you brood inside your climate-controlled house, in an attached garage with fairly warm temperatures, or in the coop where you can get a big temperature swing will influence this. The size of the brooder can be pretty important too. Good ventilation up high can help a lot.

You have four chicks so you might be tempted to use a pretty small brooder, that can make it a bit more difficult to use a heat lamp but maybe not for a heat plate or heating pad. You are in Florida so you won’t be seeing the really cold temperatures many of us see this time of year. The more you can tell us about what you plan the better we can tailor an answer for your specific situation.

I use a heat lamp and my 3’ x 6’ brooder is in the coop. I sometimes have chicks in there with outside temperatures well below freezing. Sometimes I brood in the middle of summer where the nighttime temperatures don’t drop below the upper 70’s on a cool night. I use different wattage bulbs and prepare the brooder differently for those different conditions. My worst condition is in the spring where I might have a night well below freezing but a couple of days later it can be well into the 70’s.

So tell us what time of year you plan to brood, what you plan to use as a brooder, and where it will be. We can try to help you come up with a good plan but right now I don’t have nearly enough to go on.

 

[Jayecookie]

There are a lot of different ways to provide heat. I use heat lamps but heating pads, emitters, heat plates, and other methods can work fine. They all have their benefits and limitations. Regardless of what you use to provide heat, your goal is to have one spot that stays warm enough in the coolest temperatures and a spot that stays cool enough in the warmest temperatures. Whether you brood inside your climate-controlled house, in an attached garage with fairly warm temperatures, or in the coop where you can get a big temperature swing will influence this. The size of the brooder can be pretty important too. Good ventilation up high can help a lot.

You have four chicks so you might be tempted to use a pretty small brooder, that can make it a bit more difficult to use a heat lamp but maybe not for a heat plate or heating pad. You are in Florida so you won’t be seeing the really cold temperatures many of us see this time of year. The more you can tell us about what you plan the better we can tailor an answer for your specific situation.

I use a heat lamp and my 3’ x 6’ brooder is in the coop. I sometimes have chicks in there with outside temperatures well below freezing. Sometimes I brood in the middle of summer where the nighttime temperatures don’t drop below the upper 70’s on a cool night. I use different wattage bulbs and prepare the brooder differently for those different conditions. My worst condition is in the spring where I might have a night well below freezing but a couple of days later it can be well into the 70’s.

So tell us what time of year you plan to brood, what you plan to use as a brooder, and where it will be. We can try to help you come up with a good plan but right now I don’t have nearly enough to go on.

I ordered my chicks and I am getting them near October 30th. We do have a couple cold front coming in but usually the weather stays pretty warm till the end of December. I just don’t want to get a light that would be to hot for them and I don’t know which one I am suppose to get...

 

[Jayecookie]

I also have a bunch of plastic bins that would do go as a brooder. I have big and small and medium. I am planning to keep them in my garage. But since I am moving I will then have to keep them in either the outside covered car port or the Laundry room

 

[K3nzi3]

I ordered my chicks and I am getting them near October 30th. We do have a couple cold front coming in but usually the weather stays pretty warm till the end of December. I just don’t want to get a light that would be to hot for them and I don’t know which one I am suppose to get...

Are you keeping them outside? If so, get a higher Watt light and just watch if they are comfortable. If they are too hot, they will spread out and pant. If too cold, they will huddle together to get warm. You can move the lamp according to how they act.

 

[Parront]

I ordered my chicks and I am getting them near October 30th. We do have a couple cold front coming in but usually the weather stays pretty warm till the end of December. I just don’t want to get a light that would be to hot for them and I don’t know which one I am suppose to get...

In a plastic bin inside the house you could start with a 100 watt bulb attached to the end of the bin. The first few days you need the chicks to be 95 degrees. Use a wire lid so that the light can not fall into the bin. Warm it up before the chicks arrive, like now! That way you can practice before it is life and death for your chicks. Get a thermometer, put it at chick level and watch it for a day, check it and write down the temps if you have to. If the temp is over 95, raise the bulb or replace it with a 75 watt, you get the idea. Good idea to start now, enjoy your new babies!