If it works well for you, by all means, stick with it! My first batch was raised with a red heat lamp, but I swore, never again! So I looked into commercial brooding plates, but couldn’t justify the bite to the budget for something that would see occasional use.
Now I use Mama Heating Pad and brood them out in a wire brooder pen in the run. Every batch, every time! It totally mimics a broody hen, from the darkness and softness underneath to the steady, even heat. They duck under for a quick warmup and then pop back out, exploring and learning to be chickens from the adults around them. If they get spooked, they dash under until they feel secure. They love to lay on top of it, and tuck themselves around it too, just as they do with a broody. They go to sleep at sunset and wake up with the dawn instead of catching an hour here and there. They aren’t eating all night long, which I think overloads still-immature digestive systems, so not one batch of my MHP chicks has ever had pasty butt, unlike my first (and only) batch of indoor, heat lamp raised chicks. They are totally off all heat by the end of 3 weeks, and mingling with the flock. By 4 weeks the brooder pen and heating pad comes out of the run and they are fully integrated with the flock.
To me, light is light, no matter what color the bulbs are. I do understand that the red bulbs are probably better than white light. So as I said, you’ve had fantastic success with what you’re doing and there’s no need to change horses in the middle of this stream. Just thought you might be interested to learn about an alternative. I always love learning different things!
