Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[LindaB220]

Here's a few pics of my brooder heating plans....this may or may not be subject to change according to how well this slip pillow performs or if it is just too dirty after a bit, at which time I'll just cover the contraption with a pillow case and be done with it. If I abandon the pillow, I'll likely use the pillow case to protect the heating pad from soiling and then pile bedding on top of the structure like the lady did in the video, except will keep both ends open for coming and going.

This is the bendable frame I'm using that will conform to just about any shape or height I want to adjust it to simply by bending it. It's just a piece of 2x2 welded wire fencing with some Gorilla tape on the edges to protect from the sharp ends. The heating pad is strapped to the underside with a couple of bungee toggles.



I can adjust this lower or higher, as I see fit for the comfort of the chicks and this frame is quite sturdy...even if the chicks climb on top it's not going to collapse.


This is my original "broody" pillow that I had started out using in the nest but was too big and occlusive to the nest so it may be used for the brooder heater...there is a pocket especially for the wire frame and heating pad that velcroes shut.









I can either hump it up to allow for standing up under it or huddling next to the sides while sleeping....





Or square it off to make for even heat all the way across...I can also make one end higher and one end lower if need be, just by bending the wire in that manner.

This is so much more feasible than spending up to $100 on one of those plates. Somehow I'm going to incorporate some of the feather dusters I bought.

Edited to add: Have you put this on the inventions thread yet? It's needed.

 

[Beekissed]

This is so much more feasible than spending up to $100 on one of those plates. Somehow I'm going to incorporate some of the feather dusters I bought.

I know! Cheap, workable solutions are my thing. It's likely I won't be using the broody pillow unless ambient temps drop below 20. I'll probably just use a thin, flannel pillow case over this and place a layer of clean hay on top and around it like that lady did in the video, but both ends of mine will remain open for coming and going.

 

[lazy gardener]

It's real pretty now... not so much after the chickies take it for a test run!!!

 

[Aacre]

Lacy Blues, you're TALENTED! I love it! I wish I could draw something more than stick figures!

As for the broody red hen, she is adorable. I wish I knew where to get one of those! I was thinking that I've read that once chicks go into the brooder, it's suggested that the temp of a heat lamp (or whatever you use for heat) should be at about 95° the first week and then decrease by 5° every week until they are acclimated to the outside weather (obviously you'd have to be careful if doing this in the cold months). BUT a mothering hen can't turn down her biological thermostat! She would slowly give the chicks room to learn to be independent, I think.. I've never had a broody mother hen, so I don't know how they would do it! This is all so exciting though and I think it puts extra challenge into an already challenging experience. LOVE IT!!

 

[Beekissed]

It's real pretty now... not so much after the chickies take it for a test run!!!

I replaced the broody pillow with a thin, stretchy, old fleece pillow case and it was much better...that's what I'll be using. The heating pad I'm using doesn't have a plastic side or area as it's built into a velour/velux type pad that cannot be removed. Surprisingly, though, this entire pad can be machine washed...it unplugs entirely from the power cord for this purpose. Never saw a heating pad this nice!

The broody pillow was a good idea and something I fussed and fiddled with to make but it really was unnecessary for this whole process! Isn't that the way things usually go?

Lacy Blues, you're TALENTED! I love it! I wish I could draw something more than stick figures!

As for the broody red hen, she is adorable. I wish I knew where to get one of those! I was thinking that I've read that once chicks go into the brooder, it's suggested that the temp of a heat lamp (or whatever you use for heat) should be at about 95° the first week and then decrease by 5° every week until they are acclimated to the outside weather (obviously you'd have to be careful if doing this in the cold months). BUT a mothering hen can't turn down her biological thermostat! She would slowly give the chicks room to learn to be independent, I think.. I've never had a broody mother hen, so I don't know how they would do it! This is all so exciting though and I think it puts extra challenge into an already challenging experience. LOVE IT!!

She just hunkers down less and less as time goes along...in the first few days she will crouch down and call them into shelter, where they will sleep/warm/etc.....they sort of run out,eat,drink, play a little and come back to the mother ship.... and then as time goes along she is up and moving around more, teaching them to scratch, calling them to "food", etc. The times under mama grow less frequent and you'll see them on top of her, beside of her and sleeping with her at night but not as much underneath of her. Broody raised chicks fledge sooner, are more active and are hunting their own food more quickly than are others.

It's all more quickly than most people imagine and most of my broodies had joined their flock mates on the roosts by the third week after hatch, while the youngsters are sleeping together on the floor...though I've seen a few adventurous and vigorous chicks join mama on the roost and try to get under her wings.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Lacy Blues, you're TALENTED! I love it! I wish I could draw something more than stick figures!

As for the broody red hen, she is adorable. I wish I knew where to get one of those! I was thinking that I've read that once chicks go into the brooder, it's suggested that the temp of a heat lamp (or whatever you use for heat) should be at about 95° the first week and then decrease by 5° every week until they are acclimated to the outside weather (obviously you'd have to be careful if doing this in the cold months). BUT a mothering hen can't turn down her biological thermostat! She would slowly give the chicks room to learn to be independent, I think.. I've never had a broody mother hen, so I don't know how they would do it! This is all so exciting though and I think it puts extra challenge into an already challenging experience. LOVE IT!!

Thank you Aacre.

I think those who recommend having your chick's living space at 95* are thinking that those chicks would be under their mother at all times. It just ain't so! My little babies are adapting today to not having the heat lamp. I have left the "broody" on so they can go under her to warm up. I raised their light out of the box so they have light but not much warmth from it. If they get cold or too cool for their comfort, they run back under mama to warm up.

 

[Lacy Blues]

It's real pretty now... not so much after the chickies take it for a test run!!!

So true! Bee I don't know what you want to attempt in regard to this... just the pillow case will work but will have to be washed often. I was thinking about those little cutting mats. They're kind of a plastic thing that is thin and flexible. I use clothes pins for just about everything and I'd probably put one of these on top of my fabric to keep it from getting destroyed. Clothes pins would keep it there. It can be bent and flexed every morning to remove the dried poo from it.

 

[Beekissed]

So true! Bee I don't know what you want to attempt in regard to this... just the pillow case will work but will have to be washed often. I was thinking about those little cutting mats. They're kind of a plastic thing that is thin and flexible. I use clothes pins for just about everything and I'd probably put one of these on top of my fabric to keep it from getting destroyed. Clothes pins would keep it there. It can be bent and flexed every morning to remove the dried poo from it.

I'll be covering this contraption with hay, much like the lady did in the vid...I really liked that idea. Then that can be shuffled and replaced with dry and clean bedding as needed and at the end the pillow case can be removed and laundered~I'm not a clean freak about chicks like most folks out there...they are going to be brooded right into my existing, year old deep litter in the floor of my coop(chalk full of a year of flock germs and residue), so cleaning poop is not in the picture. Just adding to the deep litter as we go along. . I'm not having a big bunch of chicks this time so I expect it won't be so bad...I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Aacre]

I sure wish I could get one of my hens to go broody!! It would be a new, interesting experience for myself! Although, I do enjoy incubating eggs and playing mama. There are benefits to all methods. With broodies, the hen takes care of everything- I can sleep at night!, with my own incubation, I have to do the worrying and turning, etc. but then I get rewarded with special chicks that want to sit on my shoulder or cuddle up with me.
Though I incubate my own chicks, when I put them in the brooder, I don't like to keep the heat as high as 95°. It sounds too hot to be at that temperature constantly. A lot of people will tell you your chicks just can't go outside in cooler weather for a bit of play time until they are fully feathered. I couldn't imagine NOT letting them out! They will all have to learn the way of life outside of a house sooner or later. I'd rather start them ASAP.

I want a broody!

 

[Beekissed]

That is the single one thing I've enjoyed about broodies these past several years...the peace of mind and less work involved. She does all the work and does it better than I ever could, it involves no electricity and worrying about if all the chicks got into the warmth at night, etc.

You should be looking for someone who is selling LF Cochin hens..pretty, can roost on the roosts and don't have the special needs of a silkie, but still go broody quite frequently from what I hear.