Hang the lamp as if the clamp will fail
The clamp on a heat lamp is a convenience, not a safety system. Suspend the lamp by a chain or sturdy wire anchored to something solid above the brooder, then add the clamp as a second support, so that if either fixing slips the lamp swings clear instead of dropping into the bedding. Keep the cord out of chick reach and never let the lamp hang by its cord alone. Use a lamp with a protective guard over the bulb, fit the bulb size the fixture is rated for, and plug into an outlet that is not already loaded with other heat equipment. Most brooder fires start with a lamp that fell, not a lamp that was on.
A warm end and a cool end, always
Active chicks regulate themselves by moving, so the brooder must offer a gradient: one end under the lamp at brooding warmth — around 35 degrees Celsius, about 95 Fahrenheit, for the first week, easing down by roughly 3 degrees a week — and a far end noticeably cooler where chicks can escape the heat. Place feed and water at the cool end so chicks are never forced to choose between eating and overheating, and raise or lower the lamp to adjust temperature rather than switching it on and off. Bedding under the lamp should be kept dry and raked flat; deep, fluffy litter banked against a low lamp is fuel waiting for a spark.
Read the chicks, not just the thermometer
The chicks themselves are the most honest gauge in the brooder. Chicks spread evenly, eating, drinking and dozing in loose groups, are comfortable. A tight, cheeping huddle directly under the lamp means they are cold — or that a draught is stealing the warm end. Chicks pressed against the far walls, panting with wings held away from their bodies, are too hot and need the lamp raised. Check them last thing at night and first thing in the morning, when room temperatures swing most, and after any change to the lamp height or bedding. Behaviour changes faster than a thermometer reading, and it never lies about how the chicks feel.
The daily habits that prevent the bad stories
Dust is the quiet enemy: wipe the lamp and guard down regularly, because a dust-coated bulb runs hotter and dust near a heat source is a fire risk in itself. Inspect the cord and plug weekly for chewing, cracking or scorch marks, and stop using any fitting that smells hot. Keep a spare bulb and a backup heat source ready so a failure at midnight never becomes an emergency improvisation with the wrong equipment. Never set up the brooder where water can splash the lamp, and unplug the lamp before reaching in for cleaning. If a lamp has fallen or you smell scorching at any point, make the brooder safe first and take veterinary advice on any injured bird the same day. When a setup detail still nags at the evening round, put a follow-up question to KinsLe's Kimmy; she answers using the KinsLe Answers library.