Kick the Heat Lamp: Better, Safer, and Healthier Options to Heat Your Brooder!

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When setting up a brooder, one of the biggest essentials for the chicks is a heat source. Young chicks are unable to maintain their body temperature and so must be kept warm in some way. When shopping for heating options, the one product that is consistently sold everywhere for chicks is the metal clamp lamp with a 250-watt heat bulb. They’re sold in feed stores, stocked near chick bins, and even pushed in hatchery catalogs! But heat lamps containing 250-watt bulbs are one of the worst and most dangerous heating options available for chicks.

Believe it or not, those large 250-watt heat bulbs have no benefits to chicks beyond providing them heat and, in fact, cause many more problems than other options! 250-watt bulbs are much too hot for the typical small batch of chicks bought by backyard chickeners, sometimes causing health issues in the brooder from overheating, such as ‘pasty bottom’. They put off so much heat that even raising them a few inches weekly as is usually instructed often doesn’t lower the heat in the brooder sufficiently to wean chicks off of it.

Metal clamp lamps are rickety and commonly fall apart or fall off of what they’re hanging from, making them a huge fire hazard and a danger to the chicks. Often, especially when combined with 250-watt heat bulbs, these metal lamps are so hot that they are dangerous to touch, making it risky to have children or other pets around the brooder, and risky for the chicks once they’re old enough that they could fly up and hit the lamp, and painful for you if you accidentally brush by them too close while tending to your chicks! And, with the 24 hours of light that heat lamps provide, chicks sometimes need to be trained to go roost at the appropriate time once they are a bit older and weaned off of the heat itself because they have not had a normal day/night cycle.


Indeed, on top of these anecdotal dangers and hassles to using heat lamps, many peer-reviewed studies have been published discussing the further danger of raising chicks under heat lamps. These studies will be cited throughout the next two paragraphs, and the sources for those citations are listed at the end of this article under 'References'.

Studies have not been performed on heat in small brooders, likely as a result of this not being applicable to a large-scale industrial farm setting, but numerous studies have revolved around one condition caused by heat lamps: the 24 hours of continuous light they produce. Studies on continuous light in the brooder have found that it alters rate of maturity, causing cockerels to mature faster, but causing pullets to mature more slowly (1). Along with this, feather development is delayed in chicks under continuous light up to 7 weeks of age (1). Continuous light was also shown to delay the onset of egg laying and reduce the number of eggs produced by pullets raised under it (2). On top of these changes in rate of maturation, aggression was found to be triggered by continuous light. Chicks raised under continuous light were found to be significantly more likely to injure their broodmates, even after these chicks were switched over to 14 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness (3). This higher incidence of aggression persisted until 55 weeks of age and was assumed to be lifelong in one study (4).

Perhaps the worst of all, numerous studies have found that continuous light is damaging to growing eyes. One particular condition, called Light Induced Avian Glaucoma, has been the focus of quite a few of these studies. Caused, as the name suggests, by continuous light, LIAG is characterized by enlargement of the eye, increased pressure within the eye, and flattening of the cornea, leading to reduced vision and possibly to future blindness (5). This condition is caused by ANY continuous light, even that from lower-wattage bulbs than the common 250-watt heat lamp bulb, and is actually exacerbated by the red light of red heat lamp bulbs (6). This condition is so consistently caused by continuous light that chickens can be used as an animal model for studies on glaucoma (7, 8). More frightening is that it isn't the only condition caused by damage from continuous light; nearsightedness and farsightedness are also seen in chickens raised under continuous light (7, 9), and thinning of the retina, particularly the retinal nerve fiber layer and layer of rods and cones, also occurs as a result of continuous light (10). Abnormalities can occur in as soon as 7-8 days under continuous light (7, 11), long before most chicks will have weaned off of heat.

All of this happens while these devices are being used exactly as instructed, the very definition of something that is unhealthy. Other options for heating baby chickens may not be as inexpensive in upfront cost, nor are they as readily available as a clamp lamp and 250-watt bulb usually is, but their benefits much outweigh the extra time it may take to obtain them. In this article, I will discuss some of the many brooder heater options and why they are better than the old clamp lamp by a long stretch. I will start with the most ancient of brooder heaters, used as long as people have had chickens—the broody hen.


If you are looking for the easiest route to take for brooding chicks, you needn’t look any further than your own chicken coop! Broody hens are usually glad to adopt day-old chicks if given the opportunity, and they will do all the hard work in raising the chicks, training them to go to a coop, and keeping them warm at the right temperature in any weather, during any season. They also won’t set fire to a brooder or get so hot that they overheat their chicks! However, for those just starting out with their first chicks, a mother hen may not be readily available. And those of us who have had chickens for years know that the fickle broody can be hard to convince to brood when it’s convenient, instead usually choosing to do so when least convenient!




There are some risks involved in using a broody hen as well. First is the temperament of the hen. Some hens want to brood and hatch eggs, but don’t want to raise chicks, or they may simply reject the chicks given to them for one reason or another. It's a good idea to have a back-up brooder ready just in case this happens. Another risk is the temperament of the rest of the flock and whether they will attack the new chicks or not, though the broody hen will protect them as best she can. It may be safer to block off an area of the coop for the hen to raise her chicks so that the flock can still see them, but not get to them. Some people don’t have coops large enough to do so, however, and so coop space may be a constraint when deciding to use this brooding option.

Another thing to consider is that some report broody raised chicks as being less friendly than ones raised by hand in a brooder. Most broody hens will allow you to handle the chicks regularly, especially if they are friendly toward you otherwise, and this can help with friendliness of the chicks in the long run. If friendliness of your chicks is a concern, however, it may be worthwhile to look at other options for raising them.



Ceramic heat emitter bulbs are just what they sound like; a bulb that is ceramic and emits heat. They are primarily used for reptiles, but can and do function just as well for chick brooders. They give one major advantage over the regular red 250 watt bulb: they do not provide light to your chicks, just heat, and so chicks are used to day and night from the start. However, they may still get hot enough to be a fire hazard if they fall into the brooder bedding. All in all, ceramic heat bulbs still make for a better option than the basic higher watt bulbs, though there are other brooder heaters that are even better!


Ceramic heat emitter bulbs might be best when coupled with a better heat lamp than the ones found in the feed store. There are much safer and sturdier heat lamps that can be found online, such as the one that Premier 1 offers on their website. These would even be a better and safer choice to use with a regular heat lamp bulb than a metal clamp lamp—but even the supplier recommends a bulb smaller than 250 watts in them! Though they are safer than feed store clamp lamps, the drawback (unless using a ceramic bulb in them), is that your chicks still have 24 hours of light on them rather than a natural day/night cycle.


Heat plates are pretty much what they sound like; a flat, rectangular, plate-like device that heats up for chicks. They are usually on adjustable legs or can be hung to allow the chicks to hide underneath them for supplemental heat, but some lay on the ground for chicks to sleep on top of, and still others may be wall mounted. For the purposes of this article, I will be discussing the kind that chicks hide underneath, as this is the more common and recommended kind of brooder heat plate.




Heat plates are very popular with the people who use them because they are easy to use and they simulate having a broody hen to warm the chicks, allowing chicks to be brooded in a way that is more natural for them. Not only are the chicks immediately used to the day/night cycle, but because heat plates only heat underneath them, chicks using them often feather in much faster and wean off of heat much, much faster—chicks that I have raised indoors with heat plates sometimes quit using them as early as 2 weeks of age when brooded inside at room temperature, even though I continue to provide it to them for much longer than that!




One disadvantage to heat plates is that many of them cannot be used for chicks kept in an area where the temperatures may drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that chicks must be brooded inside or in a heated outbuilding any time of the year that it may be colder than that at any point in the day or overnight. If considering a heat plate for an outdoor brooder, it is wise to investigate the temperatures it will be effective at before settling on which to purchase! Another disadvantage is that they often aren’t big enough for large broods of chicks. Even those labeled for use with 20 chicks usually are only large enough for that number at first, but 20 chicks will quickly outgrow that size of plate. However, for those that only raise 5-10 chicks at a time, those heat plates are plenty large enough. A third potential disadvantage to heat plates is the upfront cost. Heat plates are much more expensive than clamp lamps and heat bulbs. However, that upfront cost is made up for in electricity use, as within a few weeks of using it, most heat plates will have paid for themselves in electricity savings versus a 250 watt heat bulb.



Homemade brooder heaters typically have all of the advantages of heat plates at a lower cost, saving the upfront cost of plates as well as avoiding many of the dangers of clamp lamps. Most brooder heaters are made of heating pads, such as this one and this one. These brooder heaters use the same idea as a heat plate; they provide radiant heat and the natural feeling of huddling under mama hen when cold, while allowing chicks to come and go and wean off of their heat source much faster. The biggest advantage to homemade brooder heaters versus heat plates is that they can often be used outside even in cold temperatures, so chicks can be brooded in their coop from day one no matter the season! (NOTE: Only heating pads that DO NOT have an automatic shutoff should be used for brooder heaters, especially when used outside! Heating pads must be producing heat at all times for the chicks to warm up whenever needed!)

The only disadvantage to be found with a homemade brooder plate is the time and effort used to get all of the parts and assemble it, something that is likely negligible when considering all of the advantages it can have. Even if you aren’t very handy, making a homemade brooder heater can be as easy as bending a small piece of fence and wrapping a towel around a heating pad over it—not much time and not much effort imparted!


The Wool Hen is a fascinating type of homemade brooder 'heater' that uses no electricity whatsoever to keep your chicks warm, instead using their own body heat to keep them warm! The Wool Hen is basically a thickly insulated box stuffed with hanging strips of wool, fleece, or other highly insulating fabrics inside of it, which are warmed by the chick's own body heat and hold that heat around the chick as long as it is within the structure. As far as where it can be used, there are reports of using it outside in cooler temperatures, but no confirmation of the very coldest temps that chicks can handle when brooded with only a wool hen. I would strongly suggest reading up on Wool Hens and perhaps asking questions of those who have used them before deciding to use one in an outside brooder during colder temperatures. For starters, check out these two threads: one two


There are other options for heating a brooder, of course, but these are the most common and most highly recommended out there by chicken people who have experience with them. Clearly, when compared to these options, heat lamps and 250 watt bulbs fall flat! Their propensity to cause brooder fires, overheat chicks, and burn anything that comes into contact with them makes them an unnecessary danger, and the significant damage and abnormalities they cause in the growing eyes of chicks reared under them makes them an unhealthy choice to boot. Many of the heating options given in this article are much more natural, allowing chicks to grow and thrive as intended by nature, and all are much, MUCH safer! On top of that, many save on the electricity bill in the long run! What’s not to love about that?


Homemade Brooders – Lots of brooder ideas for containing your chicks!
Yes, You Can Brood Chicks Outdoors


Guides about broody hens: One, Two
Old Fashioned Broody Hen Thread – Be warned, it’s a long one!


Homemade Brooder Heaters: Mama Heating Pad, Homemade Heat Plate
Heat Plate Reviews and Comparisons

And don’t be afraid to seek out help at the Raising Baby Chicks forum if you’re unsure about anything to do with raising chicks!