Rite Farm Products 150W White Ceramic Heat Emitter Brooder Infrared Lamp Bulb

I like two things about this more than the heat lamp I was using. First, it uses less power but still manages to keep the brooder in the temperature range I need. I tend to do smaller hatches of about a dozen chick and this is the best size I've found. Second, since this produces no light the birds are less active at night. I don't need to check at midnight to make sure they aren't out of water anymore. Since I hatch chicks as replacements for my layers I don't really want them eating round the clock. Having only natural light seems to work better for them and this heat source works best for me. Finally, while it keeps things warm enough I'm less concerned about fire than I was with the higher wattage bulb. The larger bulb got hot enough to melt plastic. The IR thermometer measures the hot spots on the fixture with this one at 150°F. It's still something to be cautious with, but it's less worrisome than the 250W bulb I had been using.