What Temperatures from Various Heating Devices?

[raingarden]

You can find information on the surface temperature of incandescent bulbs. Most are about 200F in the range of 40 to 100 watts. The larger wattage bulbs are just bigger and seem to have about the same surface temperature because the heat is spread over a larger surface. A higher wattage bulb puts out more total heat so surface temperature might not have any relevance.

The distance form the bulb and reflector to the level of the chicks is important. The ambient tremperature and circulation is important. The size of the brooder and number of chicks is important. So, it gets complicated and may be easiest to sort out with simple trial and error.

I bought a variety of bulb sizes from 40 to 100 watts and a bunch of cheap clamp-on fixtures with eight to ten-inch reflectors. From there, the bulb size, the number of fixtures, fixture height and the overall size of the brooder is juggled.

An infared thermometer (the pistol-grip type) is handy for checking the temperature of the bedding at various spots around the brooder. You can insure there is enough space at the required temperature to accomodate the number of chicks. Then adjust accordingly based on how they distribute themselves and huddle.