Will this brooder heater be any good?

[Jenbirdee]

I have 18 duck eggs in an incubator now, and I don’t want to use the stupid red heat lamp anymore after they hatch so I’m looking at this..

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Yes, but with brooder plates never go by the given chick/duckling estimate for size. If a brooder plate says it will fit 20 chicks/ducklings then in reality it will only fit 12-15. For the first week, yes they technically could all cram under and fit. However, after the first week they grow so fast that by 2 weeks you will never be able to get 20 ducklings under that. I say this as someone who has brooder plates in every size and uses them for both ducklings and chicks.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Yes, but with brooder plates never go by the given chick/duckling estimate for size. If a brooder plate says it will fit 20 chicks/ducklings then in reality it will only fit 12-15. For the first week, yes they technically could all cram under and fit. However, after the first week they grow so fast that by 2 weeks you will never be able to get 20 ducklings under that. I say this as someone who has brooder plates in every size and uses them for both ducklings and chicks.

K ok thanks - I’m not really expecting all 18 eggs to hatch , but just in case they do , it will be good to be prepared. Of course I still have the heat lamps as back up too. Have you ever used a home made“mama heating pad” cave for ducklings? I’m looking into those too .

 

[HollowOfWisps]

K ok thanks - I’m not really expecting all 18 eggs to hatch , but just in case they do , it will be good to be prepared. Of course I still have the heat lamps as back up too. Have you ever used a home made“mama heating pad” cave for ducklings? I’m looking into those too .

I have not used the homemade ones mainly because I didn’t have any of the supplies on hand to make one and I figured by the time I bought them I might as well just buy the plate. Everyone in BYC that has used them seem to really like them though and I think it’s a great idea if you have the supplies on hand.

 

[Airyaman]

Tbh, I think the best deal is this one from TSC:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-brooder-and-coop-heater

$50 and it's much larger than the one in the OP. I have two of them and they are twice as big as the one in the OP (I have another brand of that one). My only complaint is that the height is less adjustable and tends to run hotter, but I've used it for two sets of chicks (9 and 6) with no issues so far.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Tbh, I think the best deal is this one from TSC:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-brooder-and-coop-heater

$50 and it's much larger than the one in the OP. I have two of them and they are twice as big as the one in the OP (I have another brand of that one). My only complaint is that the height is less adjustable and tends to run hotter, but I've used it for two sets of chicks (9 and 6) with no issues so far.

+1 to this. I have several of the producers pride ones since they're good value for money and reliable; used them both as brooder plates and coop heaters. The height adjustment is pretty coarse, but I just set one set of legs up on something like small blocks of 1" wood to get an intermediate level and a slope.

Although it hasn't been a deal-breaker for me, one other possible issue with the producers pride ones that they have a switch that is located pretty close to the plate itself. I don't know why they put it there instead of at the other end of the cord. That switch box needs to be kept elevated away from easy access to stop older chicks from stepping on it and either accidentally turning it off or changing it into the stronger coop heater mode (happened to me once).

 

[Airyaman]

+1 to this. I have several of the producers pride ones since they're good value for money and reliable; used them both as brooder plates and coop heaters. The height adjustment is pretty coarse, but I just set one set of legs up on something like small blocks of 1" wood to get an intermediate level and a slope.

Although it hasn't been a deal-breaker for me, one other possible issue with the producers pride ones that they have a switch that is located pretty close to the plate itself. I don't know why they put it there instead of at the other end of the cord. That switch box needs to be kept elevated away from easy access to stop older chicks from stepping on it and either accidentally turning it off or changing it into the stronger coop heater mode (happened to me once).

Yeah, I have not had the issue with the switch because of how mine are situated but I agree it was a poor design choice.