raggiedoll88
Chirping
- Jan 14, 2021
- 60
- 170
- 96
Two part question... Feel free to skip down to the bottom & avoid the whole backstory if you'd like, I'm a bit of a nervous soon-to-be first-time duck mama and looking back now I realize that I rambled on and on about my heat plate conundrum for a while 
Anyway, after reading a bunch of posts on BYC I decided to go with the Premier 1 heat plate for my duckling brooder -- I don't plan on buying a cover for it but just using Press 'n Seal on top as many people have suggested (because paying an additional almost $30-40 doesn't make sense to me) but I DO plan on buying the heat plate temperature control for $13 because I like the idea of being able to control the heat plate output, especially since it can apparently get pretty hot (much hotter than the Brinsea EcoGlow from what I've seen).
Unfortunately, since it took me AGES to research everything and come to a final decision on my preferred heat plate, by the time I made my decision on which heat plate I wanted to buy for my ducklings all of the Premier 1 products were backordered. At first I wasn't too concerned because it was only the beginning of February and I'm not getting my ducklings until end of March. So I signed up to be notified by email when the heat plate & temp controller would become available, which was supposed to be just a week out. That date came and went and the backorder status got pushed back another week. Then another. When I checked yesterday it got pushed back to 3/2. I contacted a sales representative and she told me that their entire shipment is held up in customs in New York and they have no idea how long it might take to get the products back in stock.
My ducklings will be shipped out on 3/22 so I can't wait FOREVER to get my brooder set up because they'll be here in a little over three weeks & I really want to have everything ready for them well before they arrive. Or at least with a few days to spare! I can hold out a little longer & hope that the New York customs thing gets figured out ASAP but I want to have a backup plan in case I'm not able to purchase the heat plate of my dreams
I'm thinking that if I have to I'll go with the Brinsea EcoGlow 1200 because the EcoGlow 50 is selling for $200 on Amazon right now and that's a bit out of my price range. I'd prefer to have a bigger heat plate just so all my ducklings can fit underneath at once if they want to, but from reading posts on here it doesn't seem like they'll need the heat as long as chicks would anyway so I'm hoping I could get away with just using the EcoGlow 1200. It *says* it fits up to 35 chicks/ducklings (in the Q&A on Amazon a Brinsea rep said it can fit up to 35 baby ducklings but I honestly doubt that's true, and if it is not for more than a few days seeing as how quickly ducklings grow)... I'll be getting 6 ducklings so I'm *hoping* that they'd all be able to fit comfortably underneath the 1200 but I believe I saw a post somewhere on BYC saying that would be kind of a stretch.
QUESTIONS:
1) What size brooder heat plate would 6 ducklings need?
-- The Brinsea EcoGlow 1200 is 17" x 12" with a 35 chick capacity -- $75
-- The Brinsea EcoGlow 50 is 16" x 22" with a 50 chick capacity -- $200 (too expensive for me, out of the running, sorry ducklings!)
-- The Medium Premier 1 is 16" x 16" with a 30 chick capacity -- $60
-- The Large Premier 1 is 16" x 24" with a 50 chick capacity -- $79
My hope is to get a Premier 1 but I'm not sure which size I'd need for 6 ducklings. The sales rep said she thought the medium would be sufficient since it's only 6 ducklings & the chick capacity is around 30 (day old chicks) but I was thinking of splurging and getting the large just so I'd be sure there would be enough room under there for everyone that wanted it. But is that overkill? Possibly. I have no idea how quickly they grow or how much heat they'll actually need since I'm thinking that all of the info I've read in my duck raising books is on the conservative side since I've seen many posts saying they don't need as much heat or for as long as what the books generally state. And I'm much more apt to take the advice from everyone on here with the wealth of knowledge you all have on duck raising than from the books I've been reading, although I have learned a lot from those books which has been great.
2) Is there a different heat plate you would recommend over the EcoGlow 1200?
Assuming that I can't get the Premier 1 I want to have a backup heat plate ready to go for my ducklings -- I've see the TSC Producer's Pride brooder/coop heater is only $40 and is 18" x 12" (and fits 15-20 chicks) -- it's on-par with the size of the EcoGlow 1200 and there's a Tractor Supply right down the road from me so it would be convenient and cheaper, but I don't know about the quality of their heat plate compared to the Brinsea or Premier 1. My main focus is getting something that will work WELL for my ducklings, so as much as that lower price tag is tempting, if it's not going to work as well I'd rather pay more for a quality product.
If you have any recommendations on other comparable heat plates that would work well for 6 ducklings (AND ISN'T OUT OF STOCK!!!!
) I'm completely open to your suggestions! I know the Brinsea EcoGlow is a well known and pretty highly respected brand, but I'm not opposed to other brands/products as long as they'll work well for my girls! I'm just starting to freak out because I'm running out of time -- they'll be here before I know it and I just want to have everything ready for them when they get here!
Thank you so much in advance for any input/advice... I'm really starting to get excited for my babies to arrive & I can't wait to have their brooder set up and ready to go for them! This hold up in NY customs with the Premier 1 products is an unfortunate bump in the road and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll still be able to purchase either a medium or large heat plate from them before my ducklings get here but on the off chance that doesn't end up happening I really appreciate any advice y'all can give me about getting a decent heat plate to give my gals the best start in life that I can. Thank you so much & have a wonderful weekend!
Anyway, after reading a bunch of posts on BYC I decided to go with the Premier 1 heat plate for my duckling brooder -- I don't plan on buying a cover for it but just using Press 'n Seal on top as many people have suggested (because paying an additional almost $30-40 doesn't make sense to me) but I DO plan on buying the heat plate temperature control for $13 because I like the idea of being able to control the heat plate output, especially since it can apparently get pretty hot (much hotter than the Brinsea EcoGlow from what I've seen).
Unfortunately, since it took me AGES to research everything and come to a final decision on my preferred heat plate, by the time I made my decision on which heat plate I wanted to buy for my ducklings all of the Premier 1 products were backordered. At first I wasn't too concerned because it was only the beginning of February and I'm not getting my ducklings until end of March. So I signed up to be notified by email when the heat plate & temp controller would become available, which was supposed to be just a week out. That date came and went and the backorder status got pushed back another week. Then another. When I checked yesterday it got pushed back to 3/2. I contacted a sales representative and she told me that their entire shipment is held up in customs in New York and they have no idea how long it might take to get the products back in stock.
My ducklings will be shipped out on 3/22 so I can't wait FOREVER to get my brooder set up because they'll be here in a little over three weeks & I really want to have everything ready for them well before they arrive. Or at least with a few days to spare! I can hold out a little longer & hope that the New York customs thing gets figured out ASAP but I want to have a backup plan in case I'm not able to purchase the heat plate of my dreams
I'm thinking that if I have to I'll go with the Brinsea EcoGlow 1200 because the EcoGlow 50 is selling for $200 on Amazon right now and that's a bit out of my price range. I'd prefer to have a bigger heat plate just so all my ducklings can fit underneath at once if they want to, but from reading posts on here it doesn't seem like they'll need the heat as long as chicks would anyway so I'm hoping I could get away with just using the EcoGlow 1200. It *says* it fits up to 35 chicks/ducklings (in the Q&A on Amazon a Brinsea rep said it can fit up to 35 baby ducklings but I honestly doubt that's true, and if it is not for more than a few days seeing as how quickly ducklings grow)... I'll be getting 6 ducklings so I'm *hoping* that they'd all be able to fit comfortably underneath the 1200 but I believe I saw a post somewhere on BYC saying that would be kind of a stretch.
QUESTIONS:
1) What size brooder heat plate would 6 ducklings need?
-- The Brinsea EcoGlow 1200 is 17" x 12" with a 35 chick capacity -- $75
-- The Medium Premier 1 is 16" x 16" with a 30 chick capacity -- $60
-- The Large Premier 1 is 16" x 24" with a 50 chick capacity -- $79
My hope is to get a Premier 1 but I'm not sure which size I'd need for 6 ducklings. The sales rep said she thought the medium would be sufficient since it's only 6 ducklings & the chick capacity is around 30 (day old chicks) but I was thinking of splurging and getting the large just so I'd be sure there would be enough room under there for everyone that wanted it. But is that overkill? Possibly. I have no idea how quickly they grow or how much heat they'll actually need since I'm thinking that all of the info I've read in my duck raising books is on the conservative side since I've seen many posts saying they don't need as much heat or for as long as what the books generally state. And I'm much more apt to take the advice from everyone on here with the wealth of knowledge you all have on duck raising than from the books I've been reading, although I have learned a lot from those books which has been great.
2) Is there a different heat plate you would recommend over the EcoGlow 1200?
Assuming that I can't get the Premier 1 I want to have a backup heat plate ready to go for my ducklings -- I've see the TSC Producer's Pride brooder/coop heater is only $40 and is 18" x 12" (and fits 15-20 chicks) -- it's on-par with the size of the EcoGlow 1200 and there's a Tractor Supply right down the road from me so it would be convenient and cheaper, but I don't know about the quality of their heat plate compared to the Brinsea or Premier 1. My main focus is getting something that will work WELL for my ducklings, so as much as that lower price tag is tempting, if it's not going to work as well I'd rather pay more for a quality product.
If you have any recommendations on other comparable heat plates that would work well for 6 ducklings (AND ISN'T OUT OF STOCK!!!!
) I'm completely open to your suggestions! I know the Brinsea EcoGlow is a well known and pretty highly respected brand, but I'm not opposed to other brands/products as long as they'll work well for my girls! I'm just starting to freak out because I'm running out of time -- they'll be here before I know it and I just want to have everything ready for them when they get here!Thank you so much in advance for any input/advice... I'm really starting to get excited for my babies to arrive & I can't wait to have their brooder set up and ready to go for them! This hold up in NY customs with the Premier 1 products is an unfortunate bump in the road and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll still be able to purchase either a medium or large heat plate from them before my ducklings get here but on the off chance that doesn't end up happening I really appreciate any advice y'all can give me about getting a decent heat plate to give my gals the best start in life that I can. Thank you so much & have a wonderful weekend!
