What do you think of Tractor Supply’s new chick bins?

[FuzzyCritters]

Has anyone seen chicks being taken out of one of these new brooders? I haven't, but I do have a prediction:

Chicks run to the back corner, person has their entire arm inside trying to reach the huddle of chicks and then find the right chick. And that's if the person's arm is long enough to reach the far corner--otherwise they'll need a second person reaching in from the other side.

I have seen the employees try to take the chicks out and you are exactly right--it was hard for them. The chicks ran to the other side and the employee couldn't reach them, so someone had to open the door on the other side so they could try to corner the chicks. It looked a lot harder than the bins.

 

[SulkyBantam]

What do you think of Tractor Supply’s new chick bins?​

I dislike them, but then I dislike mass-producing chicks and I dislike all 'chick bins'. Just my opinion, and yes it's an unpopular one.

 

[springvalley123]

Has anyone seen chicks being taken out of one of these new brooders? I haven't, but I do have a prediction:

Chicks run to the back corner, person has their entire arm inside trying to reach the huddle of chicks and then find the right chick. And that's if the person's arm is long enough to reach the far corner--otherwise they'll need a second person reaching in from the other side.

yeah, they looked like 4 ft square to me. Even if only 3 ft square, that's pretty tough, and no way to keep them from running away, and down to the floor to their deaths. I'd hate to see that.

 

[NatJ]

I hate that its only one bin and not the stacked ones! i dont think i want to pay 200 for only a single box.

I think it is stackable, so you buy whatever number you need and stack them. But yes, I agree they are expensive.

 

[Mellowmalt]

The heat isn't lost. Those type of heaters have a type if heat that only radiates directly below so they go in or out depending on if they need to warm up

I understand that but to say heat isn't lost is arguing with physics. At least you are not disagreeing with me per say, you are disagreeing with the universe which is fine by me. Hey if you don't want to believe in gravity then by all means jump out a window but you cannot really disagree with physics. Heat will find a way to escape out of a brooder whether you are using a heat lamp, heat mat or brooder plate is irrelevant.

It might seem to you like heat is not lost when using a brooder plate but that is like saying gravity is not real because we can't see it. Heat will always get lost. In an uninsulated brooder you just need to use a more powerful brooder plate. If you use a brooder plate in a freezing unheated garage you might find too much heat is lost even though you are using a brooder plate where they can all huddle underneath, yeah so what - if ambient temps are too low, the heat generated by the brooder plate will be too low and you would have to use a stronger powered plate.
If ambient temps are high the brooder might get too warm and chicks will decide to wander about to cool off in between. Heat exchange will always occur and it is a direct relatioship between the power of the heat plate and the ambient temps in the brooder and the room it is in.
The more you insulate your brooder the less need for high powered heat lamps or higher powered brooder plates.
Lets not forget the OP mentioned the chicks were huddled together shivering and crying when they were first put in.

I am sure the store makes sure the heat plates are adequate for the job but they will be adequate in relationship to the heat lost in the brooder.

I have no idea how strong their heat plates are but I can guarantee it will be more than what I use just because mine loses less heat.

 

[Brooks_]

and down to the floor to their deaths

That is why I don't like them. They can't really fall from a stock tank. I also dislike the virtually zero head space. They seem factory farm-ish.

 

[NatJ]

The heat isn't lost. Those type of heaters have a type if heat that only radiates directly below so they go in or out depending on if they need to warm up

I'm sure it loses less heat than a heat lamp that tries to heat the air in the entire area.

But I'm also sure it needs to produce more heat in a pen with wire sides and a wire floor than in a pen with solid sides and a floor with bedding. Even if the heat went from the brooder to the chicks with no loss, the chicks will lose more heat in such a brooder, and need to warm up more.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm sure it loses less heat than a heat lamp that tries to heat the air in the entire area.

But I'm also sure it needs to produce more heat in a pen with wire sides and a wire floor than in a pen with solid sides and a floor with bedding. Even if the heat went from the brooder to the chicks with no loss, the chicks will loose more heat in such a brooder, and need to warm up more.

That's probably true. Honestly the heaters aren't a favorite yet, but that's just because they didn't seem to be very warm. I'm trusting that I didn't just get 4 duds from brinsea though. Their magic heating is just hard for me to understand

 

[Finnie]

TSC has them now online, it just took them a bit to put then in stock

Interesting. That link worked for me last night, but now it’s gone again. I’m thinking maybe as they go in and out of stock, the listing disappears and reappears? I don’t know why they wouldn’t just leave it up and mark it as in stock or out of stock. It’s pretty frustrating, because even if it’s out of stock, I’d like to be able to read the description and see the specs.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Interesting. That link worked for me last night, but now it’s gone again. I’m thinking maybe as they go in and out of stock, the listing disappears and reappears? I don’t know why they wouldn’t just leave it up and mark it as in stock or out of stock. It’s pretty frustrating, because even if it’s out of stock, I’d like to be able to read the description and see the specs.

Huh, yeah. That's weird. I had the page open and I went to check and it redirected me back to those dang heaters