Artificial hen to brood chicks?!?!??

[dokieday]

With incandescent bulbs going away, I've been thinking on how to keep my chicks warm after I take them out of the incubator. I have silkies and cochins that are notorious for going broody but no guarantees they will be when I need them. Has anyone heard of making an artificial hen to keep them warm? I ran across something like this a few years back but haven't been able to find it again. It was a box with a pop hole so they can go in and out. On top they punched holes in which strips of cloth were inserted, held up by a rod of some sort that ran the width of box. The cloth strips were long enough to hang down over chicks but just off ground so would get wet. Has anyone tried this and how many minimum chicks could it keep warm?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i did, just for fun, took a round styrofoam ball and collected some feathers from my hens a made a fake mama. lol it worked. i put the large feathers on the sides to stabilize the ball then went med, small. like a chickens underside.and i did the top too. i though for looks but as they got older they would hop right on their fake mamas back. i dont know how warm it kept them but it sure was cute.