Thought Ya'll Could Use This Info...

[Aunt Angus]

I have to imagine so, which is why some hatcheries don't really do winter orders or only do large orders, where the sheer number of chicks in the box would keep them a bit warmer.

All my chicks have come in May (just kind of worked out that way with getting the breeds I wanted), where average temps range from mid-40s to maybe 70 on a good day. So that does have some effect on timing as far as when they get their first day out of the brooder, or when I take heat away. Like with my last batch I delayed removing their heat for 2 days due to a big storm going through the area.

Yeah. It just seems like if the ambient air is very warm, a lamp wouldn't make as much of a difference. May here is usually 70s or 80s, though occasionally 90s. I've only received chicks in summer (I'm a teacher, so I work fewer hours during summer because, contrary to popular belief, we aren't paid during summer break). Temps here are usually higher than what the gent in the video says chicks need!

But most hatcheries ship from the midwest and ship overnight. So what he says makes sense, esp given what others brought up about the fiasco at TSC with those awful brooders they tried. My next order is coming in May. I *might* get a lamp and use it if I feel the chicks are poorly upon arrival. I have always thought lamps were less "natural." Idk.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

wonder if shipping dates matter, too - if you order chicks in March vs June.

It did for me last year. March shipments all had large numbers of immediate losses, April only maybe 4 or 5 immediate losses, and the april ones were further away for the most part than the march ones

 

[AGeese]

Explosion proof?
Hopefully that bulb not teflon coated and is meant for poultry.

That's what they say. I have no plans to test that claim by running it day and night and removing the safety grill. I imagine it could be a liability for some companies, but if I had to recall I think it was from China.

I also don't leave a lamp on during the night, I only used the lamp during the day and the emitter at night. The brooder plate stays on for the most part as that's low wattage.

I also only bought a red light in case I ran into pecking issue otherwise I have multiple ceramic emitters.

 

[springvalley123]

I've never used a lamp in my brooders, always a DIY mama heating pad with both feed store buys and shipped chicks. I have 2 under a MHP right now. I've also used a MHP while waiting to put babies under a broody hen. Never had a chick with pasty butt. Never had a loss (except a shipping disaster where they arrived dead or nearly so and succumbed within hours).

I always just kinda figured a MHP was more like a mama than a 24/7 lamp, but this video gives me something to think about.

I wonder if shipping dates matter, too - if you order chicks in March vs June.

I think the dates/temperature ranges during shipping, and the use of a heat pack in shipping, should matter. The context of the video was of chicks getting cold (below body temp 104) so that'd be worse in colder time frames, but he did also add that many people have been lucky, as the brooder plates are generally not designed to put out enough heat to warm the chilled chicks.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I think the dates/temperature ranges during shipping, and the use of a heat pack in shipping, should matter. The context of the video was of chicks getting cold (below body temp 104) so that'd be worse in colder time frames, but he did also add that many people have been lucky, as the brooder plates are generally not designed to put out enough heat to warm the chilled chicks.

I got that. I was acknowledging that and saying that it may not be luck. If I get chicks in May when it's 80s/90s, that might not necessitate a lamp. I said the video gave me something to think about. So I agree, but I'm just not sure it's the route I'll take. I don't like 24/7 light. And I love my MHP (not a plate) and kind of working through my thoughts in writing.

 

[TwoShepherds]

I wrote in my previous thread that I would never use a heat lamp...which is true, I've raised yearly batches of chicks (chicken and quail) without heat lamps. But I realize I should also say that I don't normally attempt to brood chicks in cold weather. I do think there are ratings for how cold the room temperature can be for the heat plates to be effective. I think I read mine should be used most effectively if the temperature outside the brooder is no less than 50 degrees--our springs get warm quickly here in TN, so a drop below 50 is not too much of a worry for me. I did hatch a batch of quail at the end of November once and kept them in my bathroom for a few days before moving the brooder to the garage because I was worried about them getting too cold with just the heat plate. I vowed after that I would never again hatch (or have chicks) in late fall or winter.

 

[Huntmaster]

Many use infrared lamps for healing purposes with surprising affects. So there can be more benefits from a infrared bulb than just heat.

BENEFITS OF AN ISOLATED INFRARED LAMP​

An isolated reddish infrared heat lamp directed at an area of the body provides the following excellent and often surprising benefits:

• Improved circulation.
• Deep penetration, up to several inches inside the body.
• Improved oxygenation and even hydration of the tissues.
• Infrared effects, which may include faster tissue healing and others.
• The energy of the lamp is often very relaxing for muscles and for the nervous system