Will controlling the Brooder heat lamp using a Thermostat drive the chicks crazy?

[Melko]

A silly, but maybe not silly question.
I have one of those temperature-control thermostats. Essentially, it's a socket with temperature probe, you set the Turn On/Off Temps and it automatically switches the device on and off as needed.

My idea is to set this inside the brooder, with a heater inside. The thermostat and the heater take care of controlling the brooder temperature at just the right range...
Embarrassingly, the heating mat I bought has an automatic timer and every time it's switched off-and-on requires resetting by hand...

My only other option at hand here is using a red heat-lamp but my worry here is that the light flipping on and off all night is gonna drive the chicks crazy.
I honestly don't know if they'd be bothered by it, but I certainly would
Another option is using one of those IR "Ceramic" heat lamps, advertised for Reptiles... But I haven't heard of many people using them. Apparently, those get blazing hot at the surface but the bulb itself doesn't heat much of the surrounding area.

 

[TooCheep]

You don't really need a thermostat. The chicks are the thermostat. They will move closer or farther from the heater depending on how they feel. I put the heater towards one end of the brooder so that there is a warm end and a cool end.

Here is a simple way to judge their comfort:
-If they are huddled together directly under the heater, they are too cold. Move the heater closer.
-If the chicks won't go directly under the heater and are around the heating area, it is too low/close, move it up.
-If the chicks will frequently rest/sleep under the lamp (but not huddled together) and venture out to explore and eat/drink, then they are comfortable.

 

[Melko]

You don't really need a thermostat. The chicks are the thermostat. They will move closer or farther from the heater depending on how they feel. I put the heater towards one end of the brooder so that there is a warm end and a cool end.

Here is a simple way to judge their comfort:
-If they are huddled together directly under the heater, they are too cold. Move the heater closer.
-If the chicks won't go directly under the heater and are around the heating area, it is too low/close, move it up.
-If the chicks will frequently rest/sleep under the lamp (but not huddled together) and venture out to explore and eat/drink, then they are comfortable.

Well, the point of this is to make it more of a "set and forget" sort system. 1 less thing to worry about.

I actually wanted to use a PID thermostat that varied the power it supplied to the bulb. i.e. the bulb would dim and brighten as needed in response to the thermistor... There's quite a few on sale but I wasn't able to find one that would deliver on-time for my hatching.

This sort of automation helps take out the guess-work when it comes to raising chickens, and makes the process a little less involved.

 

[SueT]

As @TooCheep said, the chicks themselves are your thermostat. They do need a cooler (i.e. ambient room temp) area in the brooder. When raised by a mama hen, the chicks don’t stay under her all the time. They venture out into the coolness, even cold. I’ve had a mama hen take 2-day-old chicks outside w temps in the 40’s. They go back under her when they get cold. The older they get, the more time they spend NOT under her.
And yes, a light going on and off would probably disrupt them. When I brood chicks, instead of a heat bulb, I use a CHE ceramic heat emitter bulb, aka reptile bulb. It puts out heat but no light. Chicks will sleep all night if it’s dark.

 

[TooCheep]

Well, the point of this is to make it more of a "set and forget" sort system. 1 less thing to worry about.

The point really is to make the chicks as comfortable as possible in the absence of a mother hen. I tried the same idea with my last brood (my 3rd) of chicks. It worked poorly and I gave it up after a couple of hours.

I have a similar thermostat+probe that I use in the spring when sprouting seeds for my garden. The probe is inserted in the soil and controls a heating pad that improves seed germination. It works well for that purpose.

The problem is the difference between ambient vs radiant heat. The probe can't measure radiant heat which isn't relevant for seeds which are beneath the soil.

What happens is the chicks will get comfortable with the heater on and as soon as it clicks off (because the probe says the air temperature is okay), the chicks start peeping because their skin temperature has suddenly changed. It is much like the difference between being out in the sun vs walking under some shade. You feel cooler even though the air temperature is the same, because you no longer are exposed to the radiant heat from above.

If you decide to go ahead with the thermostat anyway, please closely watch the chicks for a while. You will almost certainly see that they react similarly to mine.

Using the chicks as your gauge for comfort really isn't hard. You will likely be looking in on them frequently while they are very young and it isn't hard to adjust the heat source if they appear to be uncomfortable. Use a basic thermometer to get the temperature approximately right. The chicks will do the rest.

 

[Melko]

Well, since I'm hard headed and a storm broke all my heat lamps (Just blew through the place and smashed them, luckily no other damage) I decided to try a thermostat-controlled heating pad. Here's the setup:

This is my "mama heating pad", made of a seedling mat I didn't need and scrap wood.
This thing comes with it's own controller... But it has a built-in timer for some insane reason. It has to be reset by-hand every time sooo...

I snipped it off. The heating pad is essentially just a big resistor so it's not a huge deal.

Now, I can plug it into this cheap thermostat plug I got and walla, a controlled pad.

I tried it out indoors and results seemed alright. Probe stuck to the floor beneath the pad reached 34C and it seemed pretty stable.
Haven't tested it outdoors but temps don't go that low over here, maybe 12C at the coldest before dawn so it should be alright

 

[Melko]

The point really is to make the chicks as comfortable as possible in the absence of a mother hen. I tried the same idea with my last brood (my 3rd) of chicks. It worked poorly and I gave it up after a couple of hours.

I have a similar thermostat+probe that I use in the spring when sprouting seeds for my garden. The probe is inserted in the soil and controls a heating pad that improves seed germination. It works well for that purpose.

The problem is the difference between ambient vs radiant heat. The probe can't measure radiant heat which isn't relevant for seeds which are beneath the soil.

What happens is the chicks will get comfortable with the heater on and as soon as it clicks off (because the probe says the air temperature is okay), the chicks start peeping because their skin temperature has suddenly changed. It is much like the difference between being out in the sun vs walking under some shade. You feel cooler even though the air temperature is the same, because you no longer are exposed to the radiant heat from above.

If you decide to go ahead with the thermostat anyway, please closely watch the chicks for a while. You will almost certainly see that they react similarly to mine.

Using the chicks as your gauge for comfort really isn't hard. You will likely be looking in on them frequently while they are very young and it isn't hard to adjust the heat source if they appear to be uncomfortable. Use a basic thermometer to get the temperature approximately right. The chicks will do the rest.

Were you using a heating pad or lamp for that? I figured a heating pad might be the better option since even if it shuts off the pad itself would still be warm...

Really, a PID controller is the best solution for this sort of automation. I'll have to look into it more if I decide to expand on this.

 

[Debbie292d]

We have an Inkbird thermostat in our brooder that runs a black ceramic heat lamp. The heat lamp is in a UL-certified holder. There's an outlet built in.

We found before having it, the ceramic bulb varied the heat so much, sometimes by 10 degrees Fahrenheit. With the thermostat, that tightened it down to within a couple of degrees variance, at most 5. What's going on in the house affects this too, such as opening windows, using the oven, etc. so I made curtains for the front of it. (Brooder is in our living room).

Horse bedding pellets are on the floor but they have paper towels for another day or two, then they'll get pulled.

 

[TooCheep]

Were you using a heating pad or lamp for that? I figured a heating pad might be the better option since even if it shuts off the pad itself would still be warm...

I was using a heating lamp. The controller + lamp combo worked poorly. I used a heating pad for my seedlings, but it might work better than the lamp for the chicks in this setup. Good luck.

Just keep a close eye on the chicks for a while to verify they are comfortable as it turns on and off. Let us know how it works.