I first heard about this brooder from The Chicken Chick you can find her webpage here https://the-chicken-chick.com/ Years ago what brought me to her page was poop, I’ve been a fan ever since. While some of the things she does are above my pay grade I applaud her passion.
We have always used the brooder lights that clamp onto things and we never had a problem. However, we also always had a lid with a screen in it on the brooder boxes and we also were lucky. It only takes one time of not being lucky. Kathy Mormino happened to do a Facebook post about this brooder right around the time that were were thinking of getting chickens again. It makes sense and it makes me feel like we are all safer.
What are the things that we like about this system:
- It is extremely easy to use. You can lower and raise it based on how big the chicks are just by screwing or unscrewing the legs to get the height you need.
- Everything is plastic which in this case is good because it’s easy to keep clean and disinfect before putting it away.
- They run under it when something startles them. Having a place to hide when they need to reduces stress. The less stressed they are the less likely they are to get hurt or to develop negative behaviors like pecking.
- They have more control over their own comfort. With the lights the entire box can either be blazing hot or freezing cold. With this brooder it’s warm under the brooder and the rest of the box is at room temp. If they need to be warm they pile together under the brooder but as they get hot they can move to a slightly cooler spot on the fringe of the brooder.
- Imagine having to sleep with a blazing bright light just above your head. Your sleep would be disturbed and your sleep patterns would be out of whack. Growth, weight gain, and feather development would all be disrupted. Now think about what lack of sleep does to personality. Depression, aggression, and even lowered immune systems have all been linked to sleep disruptions.
If I had a complaint it might be the paper tag on the side which they love to try and tear off. The other downside is that they love to practice jump flying to get on top of it and since it has a flat top once up there they can play king of the mountain to their hearts content. That’s not really the downside, the downside is that once on the top of the brooder it’s just a short hop to the top of the brooder box. Then cry freedom and escape into the room. You have not lived till you have chased tiny chicks around a room trying to get them back in the box. The only thing better would be chasing ducklings around a blue plastic Childs pool on white carpet. Don’t ask.
While our unit says it can handle 20 chicks I’m not 100% sure for how long it could sustain that number. Once they get their feathers the heater is more about a sense of security than needing the heat as long as the ambient room temperature is warm enough. We have done 12 chicks and did not have any issues. By the time they no longer all fit under the heater they no longer needed the heater.
When you look at the cost of the light fixture, approximately $12.99, and bulbs, approximately $8 – $12, and electricity, costs vary, and compare that to the cost of this unit which is currently $64.51 on Amazon it’s not a bad deal. You don’t have to worry about children or pets knocking the light over or getting burned by a hot bulb. You don’t have to worry about your investment in chicks getting burned by the light or worse. While it is hard to measure temperature under the EcoGlow because it works on the principle of radiant-heat you can tell by the chicks behavior. We do still have the heat lamps and bulbs if we run into an emergency situation because life happens.
