We raise about 90 chicks each year. We'd originally built our own brooder but it used 2 heat lamps on a thermostat. Fire hazard! So last year I bought 2 of these heating units, as they each will do 50 chicks. They worked beautifully. I got the dome tops for them, as the chicks make an awful mess.
Tried to upload a photo but the server won't load them.... So here's a link to the post:
https://steemit.com/homesteading/@goldenoakfarm/the-chicks-arrive-may-3-2019-goldenoakfarm
Yeah, I find the heat lamps expensive and dangerous. Back when I was a teenager, I discovered that a simple 100-watt bulb did an excellent job of brooding my ducklings. The water they splashed on the bulb didn't do any damage, just reduced the heat slightly (as appropriate for their age, I guess). When I finally turned off the bulb, it was completely caked in mud! But it was still working.
I like the covers, but I would almost feel bad taking away their warm roosting spot now!
Did you find that those large ones really do fit 50 chicks? They just seem so small for that number. (I guess it must do if you had two for 90 chicks.)
They seemed to work well for the 90 chicks, but we have an insulated room and we had to set up a heater for that, as it is in the barn. But they would take turns being under or outside the heat pads. The noise level, always a good indicator of chick happiness, was mostly always low.
The lack of chick noise is one of the things I've heard said about these plates. The people we're keeping them with right now (until we have some land), had got a few chicks a couple weeks after we did - I didn't even know she had chicks under her 50-chick plate to begin with! That's how quiet they were!
They're in a heated room this time as well, so haven't tested their full ability yet.