Heat lamp or brooder plate or cozy coop

[Pixiejan]

I'm sure this has come up a lot and I've been perusing older threads. But when my in-laws asked me what I wanted for my birthday I said 'anything for chickens' and they were amazing went all out (I don't have chickens yet, but am planning on getting some within the year). They got a me brand new feeder, water, basket for the eggs, plus a few more things I have forgotten at the moment as well as a brand new heat lamp. I hadn't been planning on getting one, since ya know... all the horror stories. But with all the other expenses I'm struggling with spending money on a brooder plate when I already own a heat lamp that's in fantastic condition as it's brand new.
We used heat lamps when I was a teen and had chicks and there were never any issues. But I know they aren't the safest option.

The other side of it is we are building our chicken coop as a forever coop (hubby is building it once and then he's done lol). So it's going to be bigger than what I'm going to need for next winter. I'll probably have 4-5 birds next winter and the coop will be big enough for 25-30 birds (maybe more) and we live in the north were it gets cold (-25c/-13f) fairly regularly in the winter). And we're beside a lake so humidity can be high. So while the coop will be super well ventilated, I'd still like to have some kind of a chicken heater (like the Cozy Coop), that I can use for those SUPER cold days when there's only a few chickens. Basically it's not in the budget to get both a brooder plate and the cozy coop. So here are my potential options.

1) Use the heat lamp inside for the first 2-3 weeks and then use the cozy coop heater when they're moved outside for at night (they arrive May 31st and our average temperatures for the middle of June are highs of 24c/75.2f & lows of 12c/53.6f. When they first move outside they'll be in a drag pen with a smaller fully lockable coop.

2) Buy a brooder plate and forgo the coop heater, ventilation is the most important thing (I am planning on deep bedding in the winter and will be using hemp bedding).

3) Buy the cozy coop and use that as a brooder plate (I've looked into this and it doesn't look like it that's the best option, since its not really made for that).

4) Use the Mama heating pad brooder system (this freaks me as much as the heat lamp from a safety perspective but I could be over freaking out).

Help! I'm soooooooo overthinking this. I've got young kids and I really don't want to lose any chicks because I made a poor choice (we did that with fish last year and it was tough on us all).

 

[FrostRanger]

I'd forget about the heater, it's not usually necessary. Instead I'd just make sure the coop is well ventilated and draft free and select cold hardy breeds.

I would invest either in a brooder plate or the mama hen heating pad, both are safer than a heat lamp and better for brooding indoors

 

[Ecarroll]

Just want to chime in to say that mama heating pad is just as safe as a brooder plate, just a little harder to clean. Also home made so you are just buying the heating pad and it is less expensive.
Also want to say that I agree with @FrostRanger the heater is unnecessary.

 

[Pixiejan]

Just want to chime in to say that mama heating pad is just as safe as a brooder plate, just a little harder to clean. Also home made so you are just buying the heating pad and it is less expensive.
Also want to say that I agree with @FrostRanger the heater is unnecessary.

Thanks for that reassurance! I do think they look cozy!

 

[Ridgerunner]

(they arrive May 31st and our average temperatures for the middle of June are highs of 24c/75.2f & lows of 12c/53.6f.

Averages don't really matter. What can your extremes be, that is where you can get in trouble.

The other side of it is we are building our chicken coop as a forever coop (hubby is building it once and then he's done lol).

Good luck with that! Most of us make tweeks and improvements as we go through the learning curve. But I'll use this to make a suggestion. Build a large brooder in your coop. It sounds like you expect to have electricity out there. I built my 3' x 6' brooder so it can be used as a broody buster or to isolate one or more chickens if I need to.

The biggest challenge to brooding outside is the temperature swings. You need a spot warm enough in the coldest conditions and cool enough in the warmest temperatures. I put my heat lamp on one end and keep that area warm enough in the coldest conditions. With decent ventilation the far end cools off enough on the warmest days. I've put chicks in mine straight from the incubator on days the temperature was below freezing or in the 90's Fahrenheit. Mine can easily handle temperature swings from below freezing to the 70's F in a day. In summer I use a smaller wattage lamp bulb.

I made the bottom of my brooder 1/2" hardware cloth. That way it can be a brooder buster as it lets air in underneath. The chick's poop falls through but grown hen's poop won't. In cold weather I put a piece of plywood under the heat lamp area to hold in the heat and clean the poop out by tilting that plywood. I do not use bedding so the poop falls through where it is easy to collect (the brooder is elevated). With the brooder out of your house you don't have to worry about potential smell, noise, or them scratching bedding and poop onto your house floor.

Good luck, however you choose.

So it's going to be bigger than what I'm going to need for next winter. I'll probably have 4-5 birds next winter and the coop will be big enough for 25-30 birds (maybe more) and we live in the north were it gets cold (-25c/-13f) fairly regularly in the winter). And we're beside a lake so humidity can be high. So while the coop will be super well ventilated, I'd still like to have some kind of a chicken heater (like the Cozy Coop), that I can use for those SUPER cold days when there's only a few chickens. Basically it's not in the budget to get both a brooder plate and the cozy coop. So here are my potential options.

1) Use the heat lamp inside for the first 2-3 weeks and then use the cozy coop heater when they're moved outside for at night (they arrive May 31st and our average temperatures for the middle of June are highs of 24c/75.2f & lows of 12c/53.6f. When they first move outside they'll be in a drag pen with a smaller fully lockable coop.

2) Buy a brooder plate and forgo the coop heater, ventilation is the most important thing (I am planning on deep bedding in the winter and will be using hemp bedding).

3) Buy the cozy coop and use that as a brooder plate (I've looked into this and it doesn't look like it that's the best option, since its not really made for that).

4) Use the Mama heating pad brooder system (this freaks me as much as the heat lamp from a safety perspective but I could be over freaking out).

Help! I'm soooooooo overthinking this. I've got young kids and I really don't want to lose any chicks because I made a poor choice (we did that with fish last year and it was tough on us all).

 

[WingItRanch]

I did the heat lamp brooder last year and switched to the mama heating pad this year. I'm very happy with the MHP method! Chickens seem healthier and happier too. They have normal chicken hours (daylight and nightime) instead of the constant light of the heat lamp. They also can self regulate better. The go in their heating pad cave when cold but otherwise seem happy even when it's a little chilly. They're feathering way faster too.

 

[Pixiejan]

Good luck with that! Most of us make tweeks and improvements as we go through the learning curve. But I'll use this to make a suggestion. Build a large brooder in your coop. It sounds like you expect to have electricity out there. I built my 3' x 6' brooder so it can be used as a broody buster or to isolate one or more chickens if I need to.

The coop will be too far from the house to run electricity to, but I do hope to have batteries to run a heated waterer in the winter and that I'll charge them in the house and switch them out for a charged one as needed.

I've been doing tons of research and looking at different plans and options to make sure it's got 'most' of what I want when it's built. Anything extra I'll be modifying on my own. It's a lot to think about ahead of time, but I've had the time to think about it. A brooding area is on my list of things to have in the coop for sure. It probably won't be done by the time chicks arrive (we still have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground, so it's going to be a month or more before hubby can get started). So the plan is to have a drag pen with a little coop that we can have up by the house for a little bit before they move to the big coop. I'll use it in future for separating out roosters as a bachelor pad until they're freezer sized or we find them a home etc.