Anyone tried this brooder concept?

[The Moonshiner]

Adjust light according to temperature. Make sure to put the food and water on the cool side

I've never been able to bake cookies at 91.2º

Ya but chicks bake at about 1/3 the temps it takes for cookies.
But now that I think about it....
Not sure what the temp was but sure it wasnt too much higher. I remember as a kid my sister used a plastic box and a light bulb to bake cookies.
Sure some of the ladies here remember the "easy bake oven".
Granted it took longer to bake three cookies then a bad news bears movie marathon. But from now on i'm gonna refer to the tote brooder system as the "easy bake brooder"

 

[eggbert420]

Ya but chicks bake at about 1/3 the temps it takes for cookies.
But now that I think about it....
Not sure what the temp was but sure it wasnt too much higher. I remember as a kid my sister used a plastic box and a light bulb to bake cookies.
Sure some of the ladies here remember the "easy bake oven".
Granted it took longer to bake three cookies then a bad news bears movie marathon. But from now on i'm gonna refer to the tote brooder system as the "easy bake brooder"

91º is91º no matter what you put it in. People I've been using totes for brooders for 20 years so have a lot of other people. Rookies think you need the most expensive gadgets money can buy . You can waste your money on all the crap you want. I'm going to stick with whats been working since light bulbs were invented.

 

[debid]

91º is91º no matter what you put it in. People I've been using totes for brooders for 20 years so have a lot of other people. Rookies think you need the most expensive gadgets money can buy . You can waste your money on all the crap you want. I'm going to stick with whats been working since light bulbs were invented.

I sincerely doubt you use a 250W bulb. If you point 250W at a little plastic box and see what temp it gets, it won't be 91. This happens to newbies all the time and it's sad.

My MHP was $13. I don't think I could have bought a bulb and quality fixture for less. It won't overheat a plastic box and has this attached controller device for adjusting wattage so you can use it in your plastic tote or out in a coop in cold spring weather like I do.

ETA: I used to brood with bulbs. Out in the coop. I switched over because lower wattage with direct contact is easier to manage when ambient temps can plummet to 18F one night and then reach 80F a few days later. I got tired of constantly messing with the lamp, I just leave the MHP on hen temp and let the chicks self-manage.

 

[The Moonshiner]

91º is91º no matter what you put it in. People I've been using totes for brooders for 20 years so have a lot of other people. Rookies think you need the most expensive gadgets money can buy . You can waste your money on all the crap you want. I'm going to stick with whats been working since light bulbs were invented.

Im not knocking the idea of using bulbs to brood. Ive been doing it for over 35 years myself.
I dont like the tote part. I use homemade plywood boxes.
I know totes can and do work and also wouldnt spend my money on the little fancy overpriced gadgets. Speaking of rookies though thats who i think of when knocking the tote brooders.
Im sure you have no problems with the tote set up but like said youve got 20 plus years of doing it and know what youre doing. Newbies make newbie mistakes that you wouldnt.
My whole issue is with size. Totes just arent big enough imo. You see it time and time again that people get it too hot or its not big enough to get away from the heat and chicks die.
The other issue with the size is its just too small for the number of chicks and or their size. A lot of newbies seem not to know this. They get overcrowded which causes issues like feather picking. They nasty the tote up too quickly and it doesnt get cleaned enough or stay clean enough. That causes health issues. With newbies theres also the mistake with securing the light bulb. People clamp it on and go. Sometimes it can slip and cause the heat to rise too high other times they fall completely in the tote which is a huge fire hazzard.
Raising chicks isnt hard if you know what youre doing but imo the tote and light bulb isnt a good option if youre new and learning as you go.

 

[eggbert420]

The moonshiner
That's a good point about new chicken owners. I only brood mine in the house for 1 week when they come out of the incubator. Then they go outside to the big brooder and my newly hatched go in the tote. My outside brooder is a converted rabbit hutch, its 3'x7.5' 1/2" x1/2" hardware cloth.

 

[eggbert420]

This is what happens if the chicks are left in my brooder too long.

 

[lazy gardener]

How about a suggestion from left field? Brood outdoors in your coop or run without any plastic tub or tote or "hover".

There isn't a plastic tote made that would be large enough for ten chicks after the first week and a half. If you rig up a safe pen in your coop, not sure if you mentioned an existing flock or not, you can give ten chicks tons of wonderful space they won't outgrow, and you can heat them economically and safely with the heating pad system. The purchase of a large, stay-on, heating pad is a fraction of the cost of these fancy heat plates such as the Brinsea. It simulates the natural brooding of a broody hen. Chicks feel secure and warm, grow up cold resistant, no danger of over heating as you would have with a heat lamp or that plywood hover thing you asked about in the beginning.

Scroll down to my signature line and click on my article about outdoor brooding to get an alternative view on brooding chicks, especially the small number you're planning.

All of what she said. Listen to her, folks. She is an innovative, out of the box thinker, and has good insight into chicken behavior and needs.

Quote: Agreed. My first batch of chicks was in a tote for a bit. I almost killed them, and this was with multiple securing methods, a wire top over the tote, constant monitoring of the temp. Going by the 5*/week formula. Checked them one minute and temp was perfect. 1/2 hour later, the chicks were prostrate and the temp had climbed up to 108*. Never again will I brood chicks in a plastic container. Add a light bulb to that, and you have the perfect recipe for dead chicks. Common newbie mistakes: Believing the folks at the feed store. (You need a heat lamp! and you need to keep them 90 - 95* the first week and decrease x 5* every week.) Those chicks would be going through puberty if I followed that 5* formula before I had them out of the brooder. IMO, the feed stores push those 250W heat lamps because they turn a tidy little profit. Both in the price of the lamps and bulbs, plus repeat sales to replace dead chicks. Easy bake brooder is the perfect name for the tote and heat lamp set up.

Quote: MHP makes the most sense on so very many levels: Safer for home owner and chicks, provides a natural, stress free brooding environment. IMO, this results in chicks that are friendlier both to flock mates and the poultry keeper. The chicks self regulate their heat exposure, just like they would if they had a broody hen. The chicks feather out faster, and wean themselves off heat. The chicks are naturally tuned in to day/night cycles instead of being kept awake 24/7 by bright light and being trampled when ever they do happen to nod off. NO issues with aggressive pecking or cannibalism. They don't do the distress chirping that you hear with broody lamp chicks, and they SING THEMSELVES TO SLEEP. I've never in my life heard a flock of chicks singing themselves to sleep until using MHP system.

Quote: Agreed. Plastic and heat are a bad combination. However, I have a confession to make. When I'm hatching chicks, I will move them from the bator to a 24 hour brooder that is set up with a small MHP. I tuck those hatchlings under the MHP so I can keep an eye on them, and monitor for any neonatal health issues. I consider it to be the NICU of the poultry world. When the last chick in the bator is dried off, it's time to move the whole brood to a larger brooder. Again, MHP style. I favor appliance boxes. The large size lets those babies get plenty of exercise. Usually, I set the appliance box up in my garage. No heat, just MHP, and a nice thick layer of shavings. (they get paper towels in NICU. After a day or two there, it's out to the grow out coop. Temps during my brooding season can go down to mid 20's and possibly lower, with the high on a rare good day getting up into 60's. Chicks do just fine with only MHP for heat. By the time they are 2 - 3 weeks old, they are flitting around throughout both levels of that coop. (32 s.f. in their brooder level, and 64 s.f. in the lower deep litter run level.) They remind me of a flock of parakeets. When I go in to tend them, it's not unusual to have them bouncing off me.

I think a good rule of thumb is a minimum of 1 s.f. of open space per chick for the first week or two. Add extra space taken up by water and feed containers. By the time they are heading into their third week, they should have a minimum of 2 s.f./chick, IMO.

 

[3riverschick]

Just weighing in . I will never ever use a Mother Heating Pad . it can't be sanitized . these are babies. I realize this is going to be an unpopular statement and goes against a lot of current popular enthusiasms on BYC. However , I would no sooner use a Mother Heating Pad then I would let a baby walk around all day in a dirty diaper. The sweeter heater on the other hand hangs from the roof. It is easily disinfected.
As far as tote problems, every single one I read about was because of management error by the owner. that's one big reason why BYC is here . to help newcomers learn how to brood their chicks. Sure when one is a newcomer , one is going to make mistakes. that's part of the learning curve. However, I don't think we can solve all those problems just by dumping the tote and lamp. Instead, we need to educate proper use of them.
I do like the idea about brooding in the coop but I don't have the facilities for that here.
Best,
Karen

 

[debid]

My heating pad is plastic. To sanitize, I can clean it with whatever disinfectant I'd like. Spray, wipe, done. How is that different? I use cloth covers and launder but some use disposable puppy pads. Nobody is advocating filthy conditions, just a much more cost-effective option.

 

[Deesquared]

I am a newbie, and have used the Mama's Heating Pad with great success.
When the chicks were littles, they loved hiding under it, and slept all night long without any fuss.
Now that they are 4 weeks old, they like to nap on top of it during the day. They don't sleep under it anymore, but they do snuggle up beside it, and sleep all night.

As for keeping it clean, it is covered with a towel that is wrapped in press-and-seal. I scrape off any poops as I see them during the day. I have a small hand trowel by the brooder just for this job. If the top of the MHP is looking dirty, or there is any watery poops on it, I wipe it clean with a damp paper towel. No problem at all. Besides, there is poop all over the wood shavings in the brooder! I clean the brooder out once a week and put in fresh shavings.