[MsLady]

This is going to sound funny but, it will end up being very costly. I got baby chicks again this summer. They need a warming lamp for 4-5 weeks. In the winter I usually keep one or two 100watt light bulbs in the coop for really frigid days just to keep the hens from getting frost bitten on their combs and wattles. I only have 22 chicks right now. But, farmers that raise chickens for meat and eggs can have 100’s of chickens and raise 100’s more baby chicks. So what in the sam hill are they suppose to do? Those curly light bulbs are useless and if they have to actually pay to keep the chicks warm until their adult feathers come in, it’s going to be way costlier than just using a heat lamp.

[davisfh]

Lay in a good supply of Edison light bulbs. That’s what I’ve done.

[Wonder Warthog]

"But, farmers that raise chickens for meat and eggs can have 100’s of chickens and raise 100’s more baby chicks. So what in the sam hill are they suppose to do? Those curly light bulbs are useless and if they have to actually pay to keep the chicks warm until their adult feathers come in, it’s going to be way costlier than just using a heat lamp."

NO large scale chicken operation uses incandescant lamps to "brood" baby chicks. They use "brooders", which are electrically heated at lower temperatures without the efficiency loss of emitting light.

[Wonder Warthog]

http://www.poultrymansupply.com/2007Brooders.htm

[mowowie]

My buddy has this heating element that screws right into a lightbulb socket. i looks like a copper cylinder.
He uses it to keep seedlings alive.
Don’t know where he got it though.