RentACoop Chick Brooder Heating Plate and Anti-Roost Cone Set- Brooder Heat Plate Warms Up to 30 Chicks - Chick Heater with 25 Adjustable Heights and 42 Watts - Safer Than to Heat Lamps - 16" x 16"

Had one 16 x 16 heater for a year and bought another, quail love it for heat and cover. It has not broken yet, Now if the second does the same i'll be happy. It comes well packaged so not likely to get wrecked in transit. I do believe it is too expensive for what it is. May 2023 it is below $110 I think $75-90 would be great value. Mine is used in well ventilated shed in solid sided wood brooder with 1/4 in mesh bottom, also one automotive paper towel sheet is used under the brooder for insulation for the first 4 days. When temps go below 65 F at night the open brooder top is covered and the youngest chicks do well. However forgetting to cover the top with temps around 50 did result in 2 - 2 day old' s dying. Cold drafts must be minimized, until the chicks mature to 1-2 weeks. The heating plate is a great concept, at 42 w it is at least twice as energy efficient as lights; way safer than lights both fire wise and dehydration wise; the chicks are way less cannibalistic in a darker environment, it eliminates need for lights in brooder completely; and it is perfect cover to minimize stress in high strung Bob White and Valleys. The plastic cover I believe to be a necessity as it eliminates cleaning the top of the heater, verses hacking out 6 weeks of baked on material an inch deep. My 16 x 16 easily was good for a batch of 33. For brooder size I recommend about 2.5 times the size of the plate.Biggest 1st wk chick killer is chill at night so doing a towel under the heater for 4 days is good if your on wire. Next is disease so fresh towel daily and fresh water daily. And if the water container fails a sniff test then soap and water clean it before refilling. Quail wake up trying to find new ways to kill themselves, you cant fix all of them but these things are essential and you can fix these.In regard to lowering brooder temperature every week till heat independence, and reducing summer temperature stress, I added an aquarium temperature control that turns the heater off when ambient reaches a set temperature. For 1st week it is set to 100 F, 2nd week 95… to 75. I believe this has saved a few on 110 F days. It has eliminated me forgetting to turn the heater back on manually at dusk, which definantly has saved a few at night. So it weens them off heat and saves energy and looks after them more reliably than me. Estimate ROI on electricity is 4-6 months. Worth it if you brood constantly. The Controller I tried was the iPower Heat Mat Thermostat Controller now $19. Cheap and simple but there are many others to choose from too.And I almost forgot, the second plate is perfect after a month of operation

Lets face it, I love baby chicks. Backyard chickens are great and the eggs are a bonus. My son wants his kids to learn about caring for animals so we went on line and found a hatchery. One kid, I want these, 2nd kid Iwant these, both kids Sissy needs these. Ten minutes later 30 chicks are enroute to Grandma. I started looking for an alternative to the heat lights. I always worry that the lights are going to cause a fire in the middle of the night. After research, I discovered the Rentacoop heating plate for 30 chicks. It arrived from Amazon in 2 days, as did my 30 new girls. The plate set up easily and warmed up in less than 30 minutes. I placed it in the pen and put a few babies under it. WA LA! Instant momma!My chicks come out, eat, drink and run back under. They are growing, feathers are begining to show and my babies are doing amazingly well. The only problem I have is, usually when I raise babies, I loose some due to the cold. All my girls are happy, healthy and beautifully warm. Now I have extra to find good homes for. I wish I had found this years ago. The Rentacoop easily raises in height as the chicks grow, uses minimal electricity and, like I said, is a beautiful momma. Best purchase a chick addict ever bought! If you raise chicks and don't have a Buff Orffington to toss them under, you really need a Rentacoop warming plate! % stars well earned!

This works great for day old chicks. It does get hotter than I thought it would so I did make it the height slightly higher than the chicks could stand. I think it would be too warm if it was close to them.The chicks are 8 days old and it is at its highest so can't put much bedding underneath or it will be to low for them. Otherwise this is great!

Heat lamps have always creeped me out because of the fire hazard. This is SUPER easy to set up and use. My ducklings loved it and they were never cold. Nice that they can have the room dark at night without the red glow and still be warm and cozy.

Overall I love it, but it does need to be used carefully. The first time I used it I kept it too low and the chicks got too hot and didn’t make it. It is best to also have a thermometer of some sort in there to get the right temp. I wish the legs were longer as I now use it for ducklings and they grow so fast that one burned her neck a little bit and I had to use a makeshift extension to still keep them warm but raise it high enough for my tall babies.

We bought one last year and the little chicks love it. This year we increased the flock of our meat birds so we bought another one. These "momma"-hot stones are awesome! You won't need the red light.