Please help me with recommendations for "heat lamps"

Sanderguy777

Chirping
Mar 9, 2024
55
154
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First of all, I planned to do an indoor brooder box and it's about 32x22" inside.

I wanted to do an Ohio brooder, but I planned on getting a couple 40w incandescent bulbs to help keep the chicks warm.

But I read an article here that said they shouldn't have all that, and should only have a heat emitter, not a light source. I'd also rather not have a fire hazard in my house.

So I bought a heat emitter for reptiles, but I looked it up and it gets well over 200⁰f.

What alternatives are there? I know the brooder plate, but those are expensive. And the heating pads are just going to get MESSY. Are there any options that are cheap? I talked with someone that said "just keep it simple", but I feel like the possible issues the chicks get from the constant light are really bad (especially the slowing of maturity in hens).
 
We use 150 watt in a UL approved holder. For that small of a brooder it may be okay size-wise if you put it in one corner, and the food/water in the other.

We have an Inkbird thermostat too which helps regulate. thermostat.jpg
 
Can you expand on "properly"?

Would setting in a hole on a board like I just posted cause a fire? Would I need to suspend it from the clamp and tie off the cord to make sure it CANT fall in? (I mean clamp the cord with a zip tie or something, not with a c-clamp or something LOL)
I wouldn't do a hole in a board but the heat bulb housing that feed store sell. The clamps are sturdy and if there's any question, wire is a good binder
 
We use 150 watt in a UL approved holder. For that small of a brooder it may be okay size-wise if you put it in one corner, and the food/water in the other.

We have an Inkbird thermostat too which helps regulate.View attachment 3767732
Oh, good idea with the thermostat!

I don't have electricity outside, so I have to have something that fits through doors and that I can move, otherwise I'd have them outside.
 
The issue is it would have to be larger than I want for my setup, which is why I was thinking of the little corner box I have in my brooder now.

The issue is whether the emitter will be too hot to be within a few inches of the wood.
Possibly - but you'd need to test it and find out. Some lamps run insanely hot and direct contact like this would cause smoking if not an outright fire.

A mama heating pad is the cheapest set up if you already have the supplies on hand, and I've never had issue "cleaning" afterwards as the pad is fully wrapped during use.

I will note your brooder is pretty small, which makes it more difficult to give the chicks a warm and cool area. Did you get a thermometer reading with the lamp on, under it and away from it? And how many chicks are you planning to get? You have floor space for roughly 4-5 chicks up to around 2 weeks assuming they have sufficient room to get heat and get away from heat.
 
Yep. No other options (no extra rooms, and my kitchen would be a lot less nice with another thing, or ckick dust everywhere LOL).
We use horse bedding pellets. There is still dander but that cuts it way down, plus, less maintenance as the pellets are good in there for about a month. Coccidiosis can't grow as they dry out the poop.

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