Brinsea EcoGlow Safety 1200 Chick Brooder (up to 35 chicks)

Fire hazard: we only use low-wattage heaters, because... The cheaper alternative, infrared heat bulbs, can reach 435° or more and pose a real fire hazard. Heat lamp-caused fires are all too real. They have happened to our own staff; tragically, a woman even died from a heat lamp fire in her home. New cases pop up in the news every year.

So, if there is only one item you can afford to splurge on for your backyard flock, we highly recommend that it be a safe heater like this one or these other models.

The new EcoGlow Safety 1200 Chick Brooder is ideal to raise up to thirty-five newly hatched chicks or ducklings (20 to 25 older chicks depending on age and size) and is suitable for any waterfowl or game-bird chicks and for classroom hatches.

Why it'll save you money: This brooder uses only 18 watts—less than a tenth the electricity of typical suspended infrared lamps. Reaches only about 115°! If you plan to brood baby chicks year after year, you will ultimately save enough money on electricity to make up the cost difference. (Plus, those lamps break and burn out, so you'll have to replace them, whereas this is incredibly durable.)

The height is adjustable,so as your chicks grow, your heater grows with them. Just twist the black "legs" to raise this heater up or down! If you are raising a mixed size or age chicks together, you can set up your EcoGlow to be lower-to-the-ground on one side for the smaller chicks, and higher on the other for the larger chicks. Neat!

You don't need to worry about suspending this heater. Another horizontal heater we love, the Sweeter Heater, does require suspension.

Chicks love the dark, so they're much quieter under this heater. And it makes sense! In nature, they'd be under mother hen's wing most of the time, in her dark, warm embrace. The EcoGlow mimics that environment. The first time we used one ourselves, we couldn't believe how much quieter the chicks were. We kept thinking there was something wrong with them! And boy, did we sleep better at night... Another chick heater we love, the Cozy Coop Heater stands upright and is safe for chicks, but doesn't provide the same sense of security.

The top platformincreases brooder space. As your chicks get older and require more space and less heat, voila! The Brinsea EcoGlow provides it. Chicks will learn to jump right on top. This extra surface increases the amount of usable space in your brooder. (We even put an extra feeder and waterer on top of ours when brooding large batches of chicks.) They do poop on it, though!

What this model is NOT good for:

• Ambient tempsbelow the 60°s. If your chicks will be in temps below the low 60°s, we recommend the Sweeter Heater or Cozy Coop Heater instead.
  
• Heating your coop in winter. As we explain explain here,in most instances, coop heaters aren't necessary. But if you want to be prepared for a cold snap or have bitterly cold winters, consider the Sweeter Heater or the Cozy Coop Heater instead.
  

The EcoGlow runs at 12 volts for safety from a mains transformer, supplied, and with has a convenient, 10' power cord. Dimensions: 17" long x 12" wide x adjustable height.