A wool hen - creating one today

[Mrs. K]

I am expecting chicks soon. I do not have electricity to the coop, and my dear and patient hubby is not a fan of chicks in the house. For years I have used broody hens, but coons put an end to that for now. So today I am taking some chicken wire, leftover wool yarn, a cooler and seeing what I can come up with.

At first I was a bit dubious of this idea, but really if people can ship day old chicks, and they do this all the time, and those chicks most often arrive alive, this should work. However, I am going to try it in my garage first, where I can check on them frequently the first couple of nights.

Love BYC - get such great ideas here.

Yesterday, spent the day cleaning up the coop, starting with new bedding, getting rid of a shed that I think enabled the predators. Things will be fresh for basically a start over flock.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

Updated report: Last night they went down to the run. Stayed all night, and are alive and thriving this morning! Whew! A wee bit nervous about this experiment, but it worked.

Yesterday I sectioned off the huddle box in the run with some lattice panels. The front of the huddle box has a window, and when I put the chicks in, they laid down and basked in the sun behind the window. I had to move them, as the rubbermaid box was getting too small, and they were very nearly flying out. I let the older flock out of the run, but most of them came over and checked it out. One black hen stuck her head in, and got a drink. The rooster, who has had chicks before in his flock, seemed puzzled by these chicks, but he was talking to them.

Up till now, they have been in the garage, under a small heat lamp durning the day, to give them some light, and then at night, I removed the lamp and put them under the wooly hen. When I cleaned out the tote each day, I put them in my garden space for fresh air and sunlight. However, they would only be out there for 15-20 minutes, it is quite breezy there. Yesterday afternoon, I was quite nervous if they would use the wooly hen in a new place or if I could get them rounded up and back in the garage for the night.

Just before dark, I went down for 5th time to make a final decision. They were getting cold, they were peeping pretty hard, and I was debating when one of them went over, gave a yank on a piece of yarn, like I have seen them do with a broody hen, tipped her head, looked at it and burrowed in. Others quickly followed them, the peeping dropped and then was silent. I left them. They are in the huddle box that is open on the south side, they are out of the wind.

This morning, I went down and they were all out, pecking around, cheeping and getting drinks of water. The older flock was pretty much ignoring them. I fed and watered everything and turned the big flock out. The lattice panel is a perfect one way gate. And the chicks can go through it with ease. However, they mostly stay in the huddle box and the area directly in front of this. I will watch carefully today. I have such a cold that it is a pleasant idea to sit in the sun and watch the chicks. My theory, is that this will be their safe space, they will identify this space as safe, and will stay here most of the time, and return to this space if threatened by a big bird.

As I watched, several chicks went back in under the wooly hen for a warm up. It was cool this morning, a thin bit of ice on the standing water. It got down to 29 degrees last night, but is already up to 51. My chicks are 12 days old. I will try and get a video of this today.

So far, they have not had a problem with getting tangled in the yarn. It is not that long, about 3.5 to 4 inches. I have completely changed my mind about what a chick really needs as far as temperature. They do need a place to warm up, but they can handle much cooler temperatures than I originally thought. Chicks are like chickens in that they need good food, water and dry and out of the wind spot.

My new set up, gives the chicks a lot more space. Which allows more activity and that too is good for chicks. Yesterday, they went from 4.5 square feet to 40 square feet. At first they stayed very close to each other, often climbing over each other, but already this morning, they are spreading out. Space makes for healthier chicks too.

I am pleased with this experiment, thank you for sharing it with me.

Mrs K

 

[Sparky74]

Here are the pics.

You can see evidence of the bantams having slept here:

Double thickness of blanket:

Under the blanket:

Rotary cutter:

 

[lazy gardener]

I think Kassaundra made a wool hen of sorts a year or two ago by using a 5 gal bucket cut in half vertically, so it was an upside down U. She drilled holes through the apex of the contraption, and fed her fleece strips through the holes, with knots to keep them in place. I think you would want to make a single wool hen big enough to provide the entire group with coverage, enough room so that they don't trample each other in a pig pile in the middle. That would be my chief concern. I think you'd be wise to keep them in the garage for the first week, or even in the house for a couple of days, to see how the system works for them. Newly hatched chicks are similar to new born people: can't generate enough heat initially to maintain their own systems. I think I'd want to have exit options on at least 2 sides, in case some of them get stuck in the middle. More options for escape. If you made 2 WH, I'd be concerned that they all would try to pig pile under one, leaving the second one vacant. I think that one member had that issue when he provided 2 MHP to service a large brood of chicks. Also, styrofoam = chickie popcorn.

 

[Mrs. K]

 

[Mrs. K]

I have been down several times today, just to keep checking on them. They are very happy. This is a good decision for them. The lattice pen in a big run. It is towards a part of the run, that my hens don't often use. I am not sure if it is just random luck or what, but away from the big birds is the side they tend to get out on, this is the east side, and this morning that is where the sun was.

They are eating well, their little gizzards are full, drinking from both the nipple and the black rubber bowl that I filled with large rocks before adding water. I didn't thing the nipple waterer was giving out enough water, but I have several that are using it even with the other water provided.

They were sunbathing and got buzzed by a fly, quite exciting, up they jumped, but they were a bit unsure if they should chase it or run.

Such a fun hobby. I have such a dreadful cold, that this is pretty much all I have done, when I can't stand the couch any longer, I go down and check on the babies, watch them for a while, then come back to the couch.

MRs K

 

[azygous]

This is brilliant and utterly fascinating! The concept of using the chicks' own body heat as a heat source is as revolutionary as the MHP concept. The wool hen has very important implications for people wanting to brood chicks without electricity. I've been exploring this issue on the internet and have never run across the wool hen until our own Mrs K introduced it here on BYC to us.

The wool hen concept works because the chicks convert food calories into heat, and the wool yarn acts as feathers would to keep the heat the chicks are generating from escaping.

I love stuff like this! Thank you Mrs K!

 

[azygous]

Well, Mrs K, you're what they call "taking it mainstream". It's an exciting concept and I see it being a real help to those folks who want to brood outdoors but can't get electricity to their coops. Thanks for presenting it to the community in an informative manner.

 

[azygous]

You know how they make rugs, weaving yarn through a jute mat? You could use any sort of flexible mesh, creating a continuous "rug" with your yarn, knotting the yarn on the opposite side of the mat. Then glue the wool hen "carpet" to the underside of your bucket frame. The wool plugs would be far less apt to come loose that way.

Inventions need constant fine-tuning. That's why they have field testing - to discover the flaws.

 

[Mrs. K]