No electric brooding ideas?

[P-heasant]

Hello BYC.

Now I have always hatched my chicks at home and kept them close during the first couple of weeks until they are off heat.

I do not get electricity by all my coops so I am wondering…how will I be able to do this NOT at home and using the space where they will actually live. Is wrapping them up over winter sufficient?

A slow log burn? Insulation? Car battery attached to a brooder?

What has been the most effective and efficient way if it exists ?

 

[SueT]

A broody hen…..

 

[P-heasant]

Will 10 khaki Campbell ducks house well with a lavender araucana in winter?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What temperatures are you talking about and what age of chicks? What is your climate like and what ages will they be outside without heat. I can't tell if you plan to keep them in the house a while and eventually take them out or put them outside without heat immediately after hatch.

Your chickens should not need heat during winter after they reach a certain age, usually around 5 to 6 weeks of age. It sounds like you have electricity by some of your coops, can you just brood them in those coops until they are weaned off of heat? Do you have to brood in winter or can you only do that in summer?

I'm just not sure what you are dealing with, what you have to work with, or exactly what you are asking.

 

[P-heasant]

My main question is how have people (if anyone has) created a DIY brooder without electricity supplying from their farm/home. Whether it be a well insulated box, using a power bank or generator etc.

I live in the UK and winter is soon approaching so we will be around 35-20 Fahrenheit. I usually incubate and brood at home because there is no electricity reaching the land/coops. Iv only Hatched in summer.

I am looking for ways minus a broody hen to get anything I hatch in the coop straight away.

I have Khaki Campbells in incubator currently. I can brood at home as usual but I’m merely asking if anyone has done it through winter using alternative methods.

 

[saysfaa]

A wool hen is the best way I've seen ...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wool-hen-or-wool-and-feather-hen-build.1463487/

The links in the first post are likely to be more helpful than the rest of the thread.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks. that helps. I'm not sure how much I'd trust these in the winter but the two things I thought of were Saysfaa's wooly hen and a hover, sometimes called an Ohio brooder if you do an internet search. Think of a shallow box upside down that traps warm air underneath since warm air rises.

The hover designs I've seen have a small heat source and are generally designed for a lot of chicks. Their body heat alone can provide a lot of warmth. With no electricity I don't know that body heat alone would be enough to keep them warm in those temperatures. Maybe some type of hand warmer or such to at least start it so it is warm to attract the chicks to start with.

I'll say it again, I'm not real comfortable with either of these in the winter. In summer I think either one could work.

 

[P-heasant]

Yeah great, I may give a Wooly hen over a hover with a few additions a good try, probably adding a few hot flasks to build up the heat under it a couple times a day.

I just needed a starting point really, didn’t want to get creative and then lose some chicks