heat lamp

4FFARMS · Post by **4FFARMS** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 11:20 pm

I was just wondring what is better heat lamp or heat mat and how do you keep them at the constint temp

Piggys123 · Post by **Piggys123** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:00 pm

I use Infrared Sweeter Heaters. You can purchase them from NASCO, they come in three different sizes, I use the 30" x 11" size. If you are using a crate you can put one on each side. I use a farrowing pen and hang them in the corners that are seperated so the sow cannot get ahold of them. They don't burn the piglets and you can raise them up as the piglets grow. When I used a crate I also used the heat pads so the piglest had warmth from underneath also.

4FFARMS · Post by **4FFARMS** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:05 pm

Do you put a rubber mat on top of the heat mat

HappyHogger · Post by **HappyHogger** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:49 pm

i put rubber mats with an infrared light on one side and put a heat mat with a white light on the other side

Piggys123 · Post by **Piggys123** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:17 pm

I did not put a rubber mat on the heat pad but I did put towels! I know that sounds crazy but the piglets love to snuggle down in the warm towels!

BAPig · Post by **BAPig** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:32 pm

I agree the infrared lights are best, but cost more. If you do decide to use heat lamps make sure you put atleast one of each side of the sow in a crate. If only on 1 side the sow can flip during the night and the light is on her back, not on the teets where the babies are. I personally have boxes built on the front of my crates and have a circle cut out of the top for a heatlamp. Once the babies are born I put them all in the box, block the doorway to it with a brick for about a hour. Then remove the brick, babies will come out on their own and back in once feeding is done. I like this because it keeps the babies away from mom, resulting in less layed on babies. IF you want I can send some pics to give you a ideal.

4FFARMS · Post by **4FFARMS** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:09 pm

yes if you can send pic that will help a lot for next time. my gilt went early and i lost 9 of 13 i did not have the lamps or mat on but the 4 that made it are doing fine this was my first time doing this so now i know to be ready early. email is fultzsuper72@aol.com

mote · Post by **mote** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 1:41 am

A friend of mine did a thermoimaging project on different heat lamps as a side project during his Ph.D. You would be surprised to see how many heat lamps 1. don't provide enough heat, 2. aren't designed to work in a room that isn't held at a constant 70-72 degrees, or 3. has hot spots that will burn a pig. After seeing the study and running a trial that includes laying patterns and weaning weights of pigs from different lamps, I have personally switched lamps to the Sylvania Comfort Zone 20 (175 watt) and the genetics company I work for is installing them in our 1200 head nucleus barn as well as multiplier farms. After checking the temps you will see that almost all (all of the ones we tested but I know there are probably a few we didn't test) heat lamps that have the dimpled sides and the clear hexagon shape in the middle put way to much heat in the middle (some of the ones we tested had temps above 130 degrees. You can pick these out even without a thermometer by noticing that none of the pigs will be laying underneath the center of the lamp.

just my 2 cents, but I know what I have seen and what the results showed

CHOPSTER · Post by **CHOPSTER** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:19 pm

good info mote. i ordered some of those lamps from qc supply, 2 cases of them, and i feel they work as you say.

Piggy · Post by **Piggy** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:12 am

Mote, thanks so much for this information always good to hear of a reason to use a certain product.

bk105 · Post by **bk105** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 1:58 pm

BA Pig can you or anyone else send me pice of your heat boxes or the at least the overall sizes you make them, I am getting ready to build some.
you can contact me direct at warden105@yahoo.com

kwag · Post by **kwag** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:45 pm

I would personally use a heat mat because my farrowing house burnt down because of a heat lamp and i lost my litter and my reserve champion sow so please use the mat and my bulbs were not the cheap ones from wal mart or anything. So i recommend the heat mats

oldobserver · Post by **oldobserver** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:07 am

we farrow in crates in an open side barn so we have to provide some wind or draft protection. we only farrow in the warm months for showpigs so our setup may be unique and obviously wont work for big time breeders.
we start them in a box with a heat lamp and a towel. we built some temporary solid sides for the farrowing pen and this helps block the drafts. the box sits on a heat mat set to a lower temp and this provides some bottom heat.
as soon as they are born they go in the box and we shuffle them in and out to nurse and walk about while the sow is farrowing. they very much like the warm towels and this helps with getting their legs under themselves very quickly.
they learn quickly where the good place to sleep is and we can usually take box out after the second day but we still keep the lamp and towel on the low heat mat. the towel usually comes out after the third day and then its just the lamp on the mat which is then turned up warmer. the lamp comes out a couple days later depending on how they are doing and how well they are sleeping on the mat.
since we only farrow a few sows and they are all for show pigs we feel like we have to watch our investment a little closer. we dont have smashed pigs with this system and very seldom have one get injured or stepped on. they learn quickly to stay away from the sow.
we leave the mat in the stall all the time and leave it on at a low heat setting the entire time they are in the crate. if we don't need the crate we will sometimes leave them in the crate when the sow goes out and the heat mat still stays warm for them.
again, this wont work for everyone and may seem like we are babying them a lot but we don't like to take any chances and it has worked for many years this way.
if i had to change, i would go with the mats only. the lamps make me nervous about stray electrical charges and broken bulbs. that is why we only use them a few days.
good luck to all!

kwag · Post by **kwag** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:46 pm

could you send me some pictures of the boxes at dk21@cox.net thanks katie

Oldmanrivah · Post by **Oldmanrivah** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:28 am

I also would like some pictures of your box. Please send them to Oldmanrivah@msn.com Thanks a lot.