Splitting Chick Order With Friends

[Naerwyn]

How exciting! What kind of chicks are you expecting in the order, and which are yours?
Welcome to BYC!!
I'm happy to follow your chicken journey!

 

[Folly's place]

Many hatcheries recommend that the chicks go under a heat lamp for the first couple of days, not only a brooder plate. I've found this to be best advice, and lost chicks when we tried only the brooder plate when they arrived.
After that bad experience, we have a heat lamp, floor temp about 95F, at one end of our brooder ( a 100 gallon stock tank) and the heat plate goes in there in a couple of days, when the chicks are stronger, and eating and drinking well.
Mary

 

[Naerwyn]

Many hatcheries recommend that the chicks go under a heat lamp for the first couple of days, not only a brooder plate. I've found this to be best advice, and lost chicks when we tried only the brooder plate when they arrived.
After that bad experience, we have a heat lamp, floor temp about 95F, at one end of our brooder ( a 100 gallon stock tank) and the heat plate goes in there in a couple of days, when the chicks are stronger, and eating and drinking well.
Mary

Do you live someplace with exceptionally cold climate?
I hatch Sebrights (notorious for being delicate, 'they' say) and raise them purely underneath a Brinsea brooder plate, and I have never lost one chick. I don't even own a heat lamp.

 

[Folly's place]

Shipped chicks are usually way more stressed than home raised chicks, and that's why the heat lamp makes a difference immediately.
Mary

 

[Naerwyn]

Shipped chicks are usually way more stressed than home raised chicks, and that's why the heat lamp makes a difference immediately.
Mary

I had a batch shipped in this time last year, and had no losses whatsoever. I wonder if the difference in our experiences are due to environmental factors- where the chicks are from, weather, shipping/handling, etc.
Not to say that the heat lamp wouldn't help (because I definitely think it could), but I don't want this person to be discouraged by the lack of a heat lamp.

 

[Ridgerunner]

No matter what you do somebody can find fault with it or has a better way. You see that on here all of the time whether it is how to feed them, house them, heat them, or anything else. That's just the nature of the internet.

Some people truly hate heat lamps. It is kind of strange to see anybody promoting them. They have been used for over 100 years to raise chicks. If used correctly they work great. Like any tool, if used incorrectly they don't work so great. I use a heat lamp.

Heat plates are a lot newer, I'm not sure when they were developed. Again, if used correctly they work great.

Most shipment of chicks work great. The issues typically happen when they are delayed or mishandled during shipment. Sometimes people do not handle them correctly when they receive them. These issues are not caused by heat plates or heat lamps. They are caused by other things.

 

[Naerwyn]

No matter what you do somebody can find fault with it or has a better way. You see that on here all of the time whether it is how to feed them, house them, heat them, or anything else. That's just the nature of the internet.

Some people truly hate heat lamps. It is kind of strange to see anybody promoting them. They have been used for over 100 years to raise chicks. If used correctly they work great. Like any tool, if used incorrectly they don't work so great. I use a heat lamp.

Heat plates are a lot newer, I'm not sure when they were developed. Again, if used correctly they work great.

Most shipment of chicks work great. The issues typically happen when they are delayed or mishandled during shipment. Sometimes people do not handle them correctly when they receive them. These issues are not caused by heat plates or heat lamps. They are caused by other things.

Well-put!
I've used both tools, but these days just use the brooder plate. I used to live in a much cooler climate, and I think that if I lived there again, I would consider a heat lamp in addition to the rest of my setup. I could see it helping with keeping the rest of the brooder warmer.