Switch Heat Source from Heat Lamp to Brinsea Eco Glow

[SonyaMcCormack]

Anyone do this successfully? We have 9 1 week old chicks, but can’t sleep at night with that heat lamp on. Thinking of purchasing an eco glow. Thoughts?

 

[casportpony]

Anyone do this successfully? We have 9 1 week old chicks, but can’t sleep at night with that heat lamp on. Thinking of purchasing an eco glow. Thoughts?

Welcome to BYC! I love my eco glows, your chicks will love it too!

 

[fldiver97]

Welcome Glad you decided to join us! Next time I have chicks I will not use the heat lamp again!!! It’s been a while since I’ve had little ones but I remember the worries around heat lamp

 

[AmyJane725]

I don't have that model, but yes, I absolutely recommend a brooder plate as opposed to the light.

The babies love it, it uses way less electricity, isn't a fire hazard, and won't cause the babies to pick feathers on each other. Another great thing about it is it lets babies get used to normal day and night cycles. Personally, I'd go crazy if it was light all the time. Sleep quality can't be good.

And another added incentive: you don't have to worry about adjusting the height of the light and futzing with a thermometer, trying to see if you lowered the temp 5 degrees each week. Brooder plate is basically set and forget. You just have to raise the plate up once you see that it's too low for the babies to fit under as they get taller.

Brooder plates are the bomb. Your babies will thank you.

Oh, mine is the RentACoop Chick Heating Plate in case you were curious. Got it off Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DLFD6GY/?tag=backy-20

 

[DragonParadigm]

Anyone do this successfully? We have 9 1 week old chicks, but can’t sleep at night with that heat lamp on. Thinking of purchasing an eco glow. Thoughts?

I use two different sizes of EcoGlow! I loved my 60 so much I had to buy the larger one. I use a large ipower brand seedling mat (Amazon.com) underneath a glass aquarium, pee pad with hay on top for bedding inside and then my Brinsea EcoGlow for heat above chicks. I used an oven probe/thermometer to keep an eye on the temps.

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[gtaus]

Anyone do this successfully? We have 9 1 week old chicks, but can’t sleep at night with that heat lamp on. Thinking of purchasing an eco glow. Thoughts?

I have my brooder in my attached garage, and the thought of a fire hazard was/is real to me too. My solution was to suspend my heat lamps by chains above the brooder, which has a 1/4 inch hardware mesh top. If a heat lamp should fall off the chain (very unlikely), it would just fall onto the wire mesh and never get close to the pine shavings. I don't trust the clamps that come with some heat lamp reflectors, which is why I only use the chains. The 1/4 inch mesh is a second safety barrier that would prevent any hot bulb from getting anywhere near the pine shavings bedding. I sleep well at night in regards to worrying about potential fire hazards. Still worry about the chicks on other issues....

I know lots of people here on BYC have great things to say about the heat plates. I suppose they are well deserved. BUT, there are also a number of BYC threads where people are trying to figure out why so many of their chicks are dead in the morning under the heat plate. It may or may not have anything to do with the heat plate, but they just don't know.

I still use heat lamps because I already had the equipment and I was successful last time I raised chicks under the lamps. I like being able to look into my brooder and see the chicks under the red light and judging if they are hot, cold, or just right. I also keep a thermometer in the brooder under the light so I always know the temp.

I really don't know how you monitor the chicks under a heat plate because you cannot see through it. Also, how do you monitor the heat from the heat plate? Yes, it should regulate itself, but what if the equipment fails and is not heating the chicks?

I know there is a big usage difference between a 250 watt heat bulb and a 40 watt heat plate. However, the actual cost for my electric bill is $0.60 per day for the heat bulb compared to about $0.10 per day for a heat plate. After the first week, I went down to a 125 watt heat bulb which is only $0.30 per day. I just could not justify spending another $90 on a heat plate to save about $10 on my electric bill for the time the chicks are in my brooder.

Finally, I just want to say that none of our local stores that sell chicks are selling the heat plates. They all only have the heat bulbs and reflectors. Perhaps I just live in a more rural area where chickens are kept more as livestock then pets, or maybe we are just slow to catch on to the benefits of the heat plates. Anyway, I believe that heat lamps can be used safely and my setup with chain and wire mesh provides a double fail system that allows me to sleep well at night. Best wishes.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC! I'm not much use for advice...I'm still 'old school', I use heat lamps.

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I don't use an Eco-glow but I do use a brooder plate. For me it's the only acceptable alternative to brooding if you don't have a broody hen! I've had my chicks out in the coop since they arrived from the hatchery and they are positively thriving out there. It's 39 this morning and they are just fine. Most of them are 3 weeks old today, two of them are 2 weeks old. They dive under their plate when they want to warm up, go to sleep at night and get up in the morning when the big chickens do so they have a natural eat/sleep cycle established.

 

[chkva]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I don't use an Eco-glow but I do use a brooder plate. For me it's the only acceptable alternative to brooding if you don't have a broody hen! I've had my chicks out in the coop since they arrived from the hatchery and they are positively thriving out there. It's 39 this morning and they are just fine. Most of them are 3 weeks old today, two of them are 2 weeks old. They dive under their plate when they want to warm up, go to sleep at night and get up in the morning when the big chickens do so they have a natural eat/sleep cycle established.

Mine are outside too but my temps are 80s during the day and 60s at night. I tried a heat source and my chicks weren't having it so I removed it and they're doing amazing. Only complaint they have is they want to get out of their 800 SQ. FT run and go into the hens yard that's 1500 SQ FT... I'm waiting for some of the chicks to get a bit bigger first so they can slip out anywhere