Hands on hatching and help

[WildHens]

I haven't found them that cheap! I Will have to look again.

Dollar General (or as I refer to it..the yellow one, not the red..lol)..
Think they're either 11.79 or 12.79.. they have the foam liner thingy and are made for wet/dry (which is great when u have ducks..lol).. I do mine super simple..wire frame, pad, and towel tucked down around the whole set up.. for the 1st week or so, everyone stays inside.. as they get older, some prefer the top during the day, but everyone goes under at night. . I had a polish chick that was with a first time broody..not sure what happened but about 3 days after it hatched (under the broody) he wound up with what looked like a peck wound on the back of its head/neck area. .so of course, I brought it inside, gave her another chick so she had the same amount ...the chicks both adjusted from cave to hen and vise versa without any issues... and then once I was sure polish chick was okay, I put it back with mama and it acted like it was never gone (was separate for about 8 days)..
Everyone has their own ways.. as long as the chicks are safe and happy, that's the important thing. I really wanted one of the Brinsea brooders but no way did I have that extra money laying around so I brainstormed to see what I could come up with.. I originally set the pad up on those 12x12" wire panels that u snap together for like storage totes, etc.. and then saw a post on here about the wire frame so tried that and it works much better as long as the wire is sturdy enough to hold the weight of growing chicks that wanna play "on top of mom"..

Oh, our local Town And Country Pharmacy has a 11$ version too..

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You have good babies.. even my chicks in the outside brooder have an issue with days/nights bc of the security light that shines thru the window into part of the brooder. On average tho, I'd say the chicks I brood with the cave, feather out starting about 2, maybe 3 weeks earlier. . Don't know the whys or hows of the pasty butt, but it's non existant now.. even in the silkies which always seemed to get it before.. I keep telling myself I want to do a side by side comparison of identical breed chicks..using my Norwegians bc of the auto sexing so I wasn't accidently comparing boys and girls against each other. .
I did bring in a couple of the chicks that had been in the outside brooder with the security light, and brought them to the brooder in my room where it's mostly a natural schedule from the light coming in the window, and when it got dark, they did a frantic screaming run around the brooder like the world was ending..the older chicks were peeking from the cave looking at them like they had 3 heads. I just tucked them inside and used my hand to block the opening for a few seconds until everyone was quiet and calm..that was all it took tho.
I thought it was the silliest thing I'd ever heard way back when.. but I'm a firm follower now.. I think everyone should try it at least once , but that's just me..lol..
And no hun, I don't think anyone here, new or old would ever ever in a million years think that you would tell or think that one way was better than anothers.. that's what makes u the amazing person you are ♡♡♡

It's funny that you say that about feathering, cause my son is always boohooing how they don't stay fluffy long enough...lol Honestly though, they feather in so fast. I kid you not, because I had those early 17 day pippers this last hatch, that actually hatched at day 18 and the rest were day 19/20, by the time the last one hatched the very first one you could actually see feathering at the tip of the wings...lol I was like noooooooo...lol

Half the time I want them to stay fluffy and little the other half I just want them fully feathered so I can see what they are going to look like...lol

 

[Selga]

It wouldn't be ideal, but if worse came to worse I don't think 24 hours would be a compromiser.

I don't pick mineup unless I am candling too, I usually just roll them.

Good idea. Could set them upright in a carton for a day and have her tilt.



xs 2


Ok, I am not knocking other methods than the heat light, I can see where it is the least natural and it does run a high concern for fire. I still use my brooder light. I do worry constantly about the heat coming off it against the wall and cage, I will say that,but other than that, I have had no problems with my chicks feathering out, with pasty butt with sleep patterns. At night they lay down and go to sleep no problems. Usually once they start feathering in decent and it's warm inside, I shut it off for a few hours a day, only using it when it's cooler or at night until they are feathered in. Every one of my girls in the coop were raised under the broody light and they transtioned just fine. I do brood inside my house for at least 6 weeks. Yes, what a friggin pain. And dust...OMG, but it's always worked for me. I just don't understand the talk about pasty butt and night habits.

Never had a problem.

The same with mine. I did have some chicks with pasty butt once or twice, but it was caused by not so good chick food. However, I have found that the sooner I move them to outside chick coop the better. So my chicks go out of the house 3 or 4 days old and feel so happy having their dust baths, sun baths, green grass (true, it lasts there for a couple of weeks, haha!) and just fresh air. They LOVE to be outside!

 

[WVduckchick]

The same with mine. I did have some chicks with pasty butt once or twice, but it was caused by not so good chick food. However, I have found that the sooner I move them to outside chick coop the better. So my chicks go out of the house 3 or 4 days old and feel so happy having their dust baths, sun baths, green grass (true, it lasts there for a couple of weeks, haha!) and just fresh air. They LOVE to be outside!

I had more pasty butt 2 hatches ago, and had never before. And I also think it was because my husband bought the wrong food. I told him its worth 2 dollars extra per bag to not have to deal with pasty butt! And I use a Brinsea brooder plate.

By the way, I found my plate for $34 on Amazon, an un-used returned item. I wouldn't pay full price for one either, but it sure has been nice.

I have (2) 4-week old bantams still in the house because my baby pen is still full of my 8-week olds. I'm ready to put them in with the adults that they have been roaming the yard with now though, so I can move the little ones to the baby pen, but I need to clean it out first, and haven't gotten around to it yet. But I did notice that they don't seem to be feathering out as fast as the others did, and I think its because they have been inside too long!

 

[WildHens]

I use reptile heat mats and where I am drying chicks a ceramic reptile heat bulb, I use a reptiherm  thermostat with the sensor right under the bulb to prevent over heating.  Ceramic heating bulbs were created to be safer, not as subject to burning things down. And they're more moisture resistant than  heat lamps or human heating pads. Even the kennel heat mats for outdoors are cheaper than the Brinsea brooder.  OMG.  I can't pay that.  I get my reptile stuff from Big Apple Herp.  online.  Reptile people have to deal with humid or wet environments and EXACT temp and humidity and I find their recommended equipment very reliable for chicks.  Retiiles and baby chicks have a lot in common.Shouldn't burn or over heat either, water/humidity and electricity can be bad.  Forgive the typos my computer  is behaving badly and typing ever third letter late. It's weird. And annoying. Using a heat lamp without a sensor is asking for it. Brooders need thermostats, should be humidity resistant at a minimum.  Fires and burns aren't really the fault of the equipment as much as operator. If there had been a sensor and the light properly mounted out of reach, nothing burns. I do prefer mats, I think day night cycles do prevent stress.  But heat lamps, red ones, actually help some chickens and chicks( feather picking aggression) , and the red has been proven to not interfere with normal sleep cycles In birds.  Or reptiles. Still ceramics and mats are safer.  Human heat mats actually do cause burns and catch fire with some frequency..  They really are cheaply made, they really do burn people often. It's worth considering.

I love the retire section at my local pet store..and don't own a single reptile..lol.. for all the reasons u just named..

I did grab one of the heat mats from TSC back in January. .they were on sale, regular price 45 or 5o and I got mine for 32.. it did okay, but don't know that I'd like it for babies, just bc I've gotten so used to giving them a cave habitat and this requires them laying on top of the mat..for some reason (and I'm probably totally unjustified thinking this ) but it scares me thinking they're gonna fall asleep on it, and over heat.. when they're inside the cave, they can get closer to the sides or back where it's lower if they're chilly, or hang out in the middle where it's cooler, depending on their preferences.. I even worry when they lay on top of the cave, but it's always the older chicks up there and they seem to play more than sleep up there..
How do you like ten ceramic heat bulbs? I've thought about incorporating those into my outside brooder, just for ambiance temp in there, still giving them the cave for comfort and a hiding place. . I just didn't know if they'd have enough to keep something that size on the warm side?? Maybe one on each end and one in the middle? It's about 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and another 4 feet tall??

 

[WildHens]

It's funny that you say that about feathering, cause my son is always boohooing how they don't stay fluffy long enough...lol  Honestly though, they feather in so fast. I kid you not, because I had those early 17 day pippers this last hatch, that actually hatched at day 18 and the rest were day 19/20, by the time the last one hatched the very first one you could actually see feathering at the tip of the wings...lol I was like noooooooo...lol

Half the time I want them to stay fluffy and little the other half I just want them fully feathered so I can see what they are going to look like...lol

I have been noticing this year (maybe bc of hatching breeds I'm not used to?) I normally hatch bantam breeds...this year I've hatched several layer breeds and standard breeds..and I swear, some of those standards hatched feathered.. especially on the wing tips.. I had one Super Blue that hatched under my broody..I thought it wings were broke, bc within 2 days of hatch, the tips of its wings were dragging the ground.. within a week it's body caught up and it looked normal but it was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.
I like them staying fluffy, but I hatch so many chicks back to back, that it's easiest when they're fast feathers so I don't feel guilty putting them in the outdoor brooder..my Norwegian babies are great in that aspect. .they seem to mature so fast..when I hatched my first group, they were about 3 or 4 weeks old, still inside and I thought one was choking to death..here it was just a baby boy, getting his crow on..lmao

 

[WildHens]

Just to pretend I'm still on track and know which thread I'm on..lol..

Here's the 1st pip in the eggs in the hatcher..think I'm done getting eggs from this source..either I'm getting super old eggs from them, or their feeding plan is in need of serious improvement. .never ever ever had so many issues from non shipped eggs..

Seems kinda sticky..can't really tell yet..it had broke the shell but not the membrane..if I wasn't a hands on hatcher, and hadn't been nosing around to check for internal pips, this one would have suffocated before I noticed..it was pip down and obviously in the wrong spot..but I got its air hole going, there's still good veining on the top of the membrane where it should have pipped, so just leaving it be for now..

 

[Blooie]

I'm the first to say that if folks are happy with what they have, then they should by all means keep using it! I think because I've been such a strong proponent of MHP, I tend to preach, and I do apologize for that.

As far as the pasty butt, etc, I've figured out that chicks under a broody very rarely suffer from that. Why, I wondered. I've heard theories about brooders being too hot, or temps in the brooder being inconsistent, but I started to think it might be something as simple as chicks being awake off and on all night long. What do they spend a lot of that time doing? Eating. We are talking about immature little digestive systems, and under a broody hen they would eat just during the daylight hours, tuck up under her at sundown, and sleep all night long. Then the other correlation hit me - people just love seeing that "drop and sleep" routine - you know, where chicks are running full tilt and then just drop where they are and look like they are dead! They're exhausted. So they try to sleep, but since a brooder full of chicks are never all asleep at one time sure enough a flockmate is bound to come along and tromp on him or start pecking feathers, waking the exhausted little guy up and it starts all over again. My first chicks, under heat lamp, never were asleep during the night all night through - there were always some awake and cheeping, running, and eating. So for those reasons, and of course the fire risk, I have pitched the heat lamp out the window and chosen the method that works best for me.

That doesn't mean it works best for everyone!! I know that well and respect the views of others totally. Just like incubating, you have the "hands totally off" camp and the "hands on" camp, and each has it's strong points. Same with the "winter heating, insulated coop" and those who manage to have birds thrive in winter without either. But when I read stories like what happened at Bill's place in Lovell, it tends to eat at me because it's so preventable. Okay, I'm going back in my corner now, and I'll be good, I promise.

 

[Blooie]

Just to pretend I'm still on track and know which thread I'm on..lol..

Here's the 1st pip in the eggs in the hatcher..think I'm done getting eggs from this source..either I'm getting super old eggs from them, or their feeding plan is in need of serious improvement. .never ever ever had so many issues from non shipped eggs..



Seems kinda sticky..can't really tell yet..it had broke the shell but not the membrane..if I wasn't a hands on hatcher, and hadn't been nosing around to check for internal pips, this one would have suffocated before I noticed..it was pip down and obviously in the wrong spot..but I got its air hole going, there's still good veining on the top of the membrane where it should have pipped, so just leaving it be for now..

Okay, showing my stupidity....how can you tell just at pip if they'll be sticky?

 

[tracyjg]

I have never had a problem with heat light either there safe and warm in laundry room. For 7-8 weeks then they go outside. We start socaling them at 6 weeks. When we clean. Never had an issue. Pasty butt we get all the time we clean them off no big deal.